Business news

10 Jan 2020

Belarus to take part in Gulfood 2020

MINSK, 10 January (BelTA) – Belarus’ national pavilion will be featured at Gulfood 2020 which will open in Dubai, UAE on 17 February, BelTA learned from the exhibition operator Belinterexpo of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Gulfood is the world’s largest annual food and beverages trade show, Belinterexpo said. The participants of the exposition titled as Belarus. The Taste of Nature will have an opportunity to hold negotiations with buyers and importers from more than 190 countries. In 2019, the participants of Belarus’ exposition concluded contracts worth $13 million. “We have reason to expect as remarkable result this time,” said Belinterexpo.

The success of the trade show is partially determined by its venue. The United Arab Emirates is the world’s third largest re-export market behind Hong Kong and Singapore. More than 80% of food products in the Gulf Cooperation Council region (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia, are imported through the UAE. The GCC countries have a total population of more than 42 million and boast high standards of living, even though they have to import a considerable part of their food products due to their geographical features.

Belarus’ agricultural exports to the UAE tripled to total $1.8 millionin January-November 2019, said Aleksei Bogdanov, the head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry. “We usually supply such commodities as dried milk, whole milk, skimmed milk and whey powder. We are also considering some contracts for the supply of fish products and processed dairy products. We are negotiating meat shipments, such as chicken and beef with Halal certificates,” he noted.

Belarus. The Taste of Nature will be arranged at Gulfood for the fifth time in a row. This year it will feature such companies Bellakt, Verkhnedvinsk Creamery, Lida Milk Plant, Primemilk, Slonim Meat Processing Plant, Slutsk Cheese-Making Plant and Turov Dairy Plant.

The participants of the Belarusian exposition will take part in the business program which includes seminars on the evaluation and certification of halal food products and B2B meetings with potential business partners.

More than 5,000 companies from 120 countries will take part in Gulfood 2020. In 2019, the trade show welcomed more than 98,000 visitors from 193 countries. The Belarusian participants held negotiations with representatives of Algeria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, South Africa and Japan.

Belarus. The Taste of Nature is organized by the exhibition operator Belinterexpo of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with the support of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, the Belarusian Embassy in the UAE and the Consulate General of Belarus in Dubai.

In 2020, the Made in Belarus expositions will be organized in more than 40 countries, including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, China, Mozambique, Oman, Syria, Singapore, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia and South Africa. Belarus is planning to hold food exhibitions in Georgia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, the USA, Ukraine and France.