Qatar to be food manufacturing hub in GCC

By Mohammad Shoeb – The Peninsula

With the completion of the ongoing development of warehousing and logistics parks, and other related infrastructure projects, Qatar is set to emerge as a major food manufacturing hub in the GCC region, said a top official of the Doha-based Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC).

Given the rapidly growing population and rising demand for food, the GCC countries, including Qatar, are giving a lot of focus on developing the booming local food manufacturing industry, which has grown to over $25bn employing over 257,000 people in 2,063 factories operating in the food manufacturing sector in 2016.

“The support extended by Qatar Development Bank, and efforts being made by several public and private entities, such as Manateq (which is developing special economic zones, industrial and logistics parks, and warehousing facilities across the country), will definitely help establishing a vibrant food manufacturing industry”, said Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al Ageel, the Secretary-General of GOIC.

Al Ageel, speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of FOODEX event, noted that developing and promoting the local food industry to ensure food security is not a choice but very essential to sustain human life in Qatar and other the GCC countries.”

GOIC, the Doha-based advisory institution which facilitates at developing regional industries, inaugurated the 1st Forum of GCC Food Products Manufacturers and Food Security Programme and the 1st International Exhibition for Food, Beverage and Process Technology (FOODEX) yesterday.

The three-day event which opened at DECC yesterday in the presence of GOIC assistant secretaries general, a number of Arab, Gulf and foreign ambassadors, and investors and interested parties in food manufacturing in GCC countries, will conclude on April 4.

GOIC collaborated with Emirati Al-Fajer Information & Services in coordination with the Organization’s partner in Qatar, the Gulf Marketing Event Management & Advertising, to organise the event.

Present at the event were scores of prominent business leaders and members of the academia, including Dr Abdullah Al Nameh, Chairman of Gulf Marketing; Ali Hassan Al Khalaf, Chairman, Qatar Consume; and Dr Tahra ElObeid, Asst. Professor of Food Technology and Human Nutrition at Qatar University.  Besides, China pavilion and Thailand pavilion, exhibitors from Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mali, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE and United Kingdom, are exhibiting their products and technology at the expo.

© The Peninsula 2017