The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be hosting for the first time in Jeddah a Food Forum with the participation of Islamic countries on Nov. 5 and 6.
The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) is joining hands with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture Industry to gather leading exporters of food in Islamic countries worldwide besides Saudi importers in the Forum.
The Food Forum with more than 100 investors will be held with the aim to promote intra-regional trade among member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to make contract deals and strengthen partnerships in the food industry which represents one of the biggest challenges in the coming decades.
Elaborating on the two-day event, Ahmed Mohiuddin Ahmed, secretary-general of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Adnan bin Hussein Mandoura, the JCCI secretary general, said: “The forum will result in deepening of cooperation between the Islamic and Jeddah chambers,” and pointed out that the Jeddah Chamber is considered a role model in achieving common goals.
He said the aim of the forum is to bring together the major entities in the Islamic world on one platform to increase trade between Islamic countries, particularly the food market in Saudi Arabia which is the largest market in the Middle East. He noted that the Kingdom registered food imports worth a hundred billion Saudi riyals during 2014 alone.
Adnan Mandoura, on the other hand, said that the forum will provide an opportunity to meet senior exporters of foodstuffs from Muslim countries and Saudi Arabia, with the possibility of traders of Islamic countries signing contracts among themselves.
He further said that Islamic countries have a lot of alternatives with respect to foodstuffs, with the provisions of halal and haram, which make trade between the Islamic countries unique.
