H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Financial system and Tourism, led an financial delegation of main nationwide firms from the meals and agriculture sectors to Switzerland. The go to aimed to discover world finest practices in constructing meals innovation ecosystems, growing meals clusters, and selling analysis, improvement, and the adoption of sustainable options within the meals sector.
As a part of the go to, the delegation participated in an occasion titled ‘Empowering Innovation within the Meals Sector and Constructing Meals Clusters for a Sustainable Financial Future,’ held on the headquarters of Bühler Group, a world chief in industrial and meals options based mostly in Uzwil, Switzerland. The occasion introduced collectively a distinguished group of private-sector representatives, business consultants, and decision-makers from throughout the Swiss meals sector and associated establishments.
H.E. Bin Touq stated: “The UAE has adopted an bold, strategic imaginative and prescient to develop an built-in and pioneering mannequin for meals clusters, embedding it inside the nationwide economic system. This forward-looking strategy charts a promising path that enhances financial and industrial integration throughout the nation. By connecting a number of sectors inside the worth chain – from agriculture and meals manufacturing to transportation and logistics – it drives sustainable improvement, boosts productiveness, and advances financial diversification. This broader affect reinforces the UAE’s place as a number one world hub for meals industries, financial exercise, and superior manufacturing.”
H.E. stated in his speech the occasion: “The meals financial cluster goals to nurture and empower new generations of extremely expert producers and farmers, geared up with world-class experience and world information of meals and agricultural practices. Over the subsequent 5 years, we anticipate this mannequin to contribute AED 10 billion to the GDP, enhance commerce volumes by AED 15 billion, and create 20,000 job alternatives – all consistent with the We the UAE 2031 imaginative and prescient to place the nation among the many world’s prime ten international locations within the Meals Safety Index.”
H.E. added: “The UAE’s meals sector continues to develop steadily, with the variety of registered native and worldwide meals manufacturers reaching 40,486 by the tip of the primary half of this 12 months. In 2024, the worth of the UAE’s commerce in meals merchandise rose to AED 148.6 billion, marking a 16.8% enhance in comparison with AED 127.2 billion in 2023. Nationwide meals exports additionally grew by 10.9%, reaching AED 24.2 billion in 2024 in comparison with the earlier 12 months.”
His Excellency described the occasion as a precious platform to forge new paths of collaboration between UAE and Swiss meals firms, notably in growing superior meals clusters and cutting-edge digital options. It additionally supplies a chance to look at Switzerland’s meals innovation ecosystem and establish its distinguished stakeholders, given Uzwil’s standing as a key hub for innovation within the meals sector. His Excellency offered the alternatives provided by the UAE’s Meals Financial Cluster mannequin, together with the funding enablers and enlargement potential tied to this important sector.
The occasion featured a sequence of panel discussions and displays highlighting the significance of strengthening worldwide partnerships and accelerating information trade to foster innovation within the meals sector. The classes showcased world initiatives aimed toward constructing a sustainable meals system and underscored Switzerland’s influential function in worldwide meals innovation and its energetic contribution to shaping the way forward for meals clusters world wide.
The delegation additionally visited the Swiss Diet & Meals Valley, a pioneering mannequin of meals clusters devoted to growing sustainable and efficient meals options consistent with the worldwide Sustainable Improvement Objectives. The Valley performs a significant function in cementing Switzerland’s place as a world chief in sustainable diet, innovation, and dietary well being.