AED85 billion investment opportunities in UAE Islamic economy

WAM/Nour Salman
Abdullah Al-Maeeni, Director General of Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology “ESMA

Dubai- 16 February 2020 — His Excellency Abdullah Al-Maeeni, Director General of Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology “ESMA”, announced that the Islamic spending on food and beverages has grown by 1.6%, as it is expected to reach $ 9.1 trillion during the next three years.

He expected that will reflects a very important opportunity for investment And create global halal food brands. With the volume of investment opportunities in the UAE Islamic economy about 85 billion dirhams, according to Global Islamic Economy Indicator.

He said during the opening of the 5th global halal industry platform, which is organized by ESMA in Dubai, that the report, demonstrated a new Emirati superiority, when the UAE achieved the first rank in 5 sectors out of a total of 7 sectors of the Islamic economy.

The size of investment opportunities in the sectors of the UAE Islamic economy is estimated at 23 billion dollars (85 billion dirhams), and export opportunities from the state to the OIC countries are about 10.6 billion.

It is expected that the assets of Islamic finance will reach 3.4 trillion in the year 2024. We are in the UAE is adopting the leading global initiatives in this sector, the most prominent of which is this initiative that we are happy with your participation in now, the global halal industry platform. He added.

We have 1.8 billion Muslims around the world, and we are expected to increase to 3 billion Muslims by the year 2060. Al Maeeni said.

The Islamic countries are also witnessing an active trade movement in the products of the Islamic economy related to lifestyle, as these countries import about 272 billion dollars, and in exchange they export about 210 billion dollars.

We innovate initiatives to achieve global integration, and we pursue policies that contribute to improving the performance of this sector and enable it to provide practical and effective solutions to meet global financial and economic challenges.

He continued: ESMA succeeded in issuing the first integrated system that includes the standards of food products, safety and conformity with the conditions of halal, and methods of examination at the level of Islamic countries to ensure optimal application among all members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the process of exporting and importing food products and raising the degree of confidence in the certificates issued by it.

The first day of the halal platform witnessed a remarkable global presence, for hundreds of officials, experts and decision-makers, which diversified its axes by hosting the African Standardization Organization (ARSO) as the guest of this session, to see the experience of the UAE scheme for the solution, after achieving remarkable global successes during the past years.

In a parallel context, ESMA participated in the 25th session of the Gulf Food Exhibition “Gulfood 2020”, which started Sunday, at the Dubai World Trade Center and will continue until February 20.

During its participation, the authority presented Emirati standards and technical regulations related to the food and beverage sector, including the Emirates System for Honey Bee, which will enter into mandatory implementation early next April. Wam/ae