Polish-Emirati talks
22.09.2023
The cooperation of the states in the fields of agriculture and food security was the topic of today’s talks between Mr. Robert Telus, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Mr. Mohamed AlHarbi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Poland. The Ambassador of the UAE to Poland was accompanied by the representatives of the company LuLu Group International headed by its Chairman, Mr. Yusuff Ali. Mr. Jakub Sławek, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the UAE, and Mr. Jan Białkowski, Deputy Director General of the National Support Centre for Agriculture, also participated in the meeting.
The position of Poland
Minister Robert Telus congratulated Chairman Yusuff Ali on the decision to establish the logistics and distribution centre for Eastern Europe on the site of the Olsztyn-Mazury Airport. The Minister expressed his hopes that this project would positively contribute to improving the channels for sales of Polish agri-food products to the markets where the LuLu company is present, i.e. the countries of the Middle East, North Africa and India. At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development informed his Emirati interlocutors about the splendid results of Polish agricultural exports and encouraged them to engage in contacts with the National Support Centre for Agriculture.
The topic of food security was also addressed. Minister Robert Telus pointed out the need for the administration, the agri-food sector and processing and commercial companies to cooperate in order to ensure the efficient operation of food chains. In the present geopolitical situation, safeguarding global food supply is of key importance.
The position of the UAE
Mr. Yusuff Ali, Chairman of the LuLu company, stressed that Poland was associated with high-quality food products and expected that it would be possible to promote them even more strongly in the markets abroad. In this context, he added that the company planned to organise the Polish Week in the hypermarkets which it owned.
Polish agri-food exports to the UAE
According to preliminary data, in the period from January to July 2023, the value of agricultural exports from Poland to the UAE was EUR 97.2 million, growing by about 45% compared with the analogous period in 2022. We mainly exported bread, bakery products, processed food products, tobacco, confectionery and apples.
