They discussed, first of all, the opportunities to intensify trade cooperation. The United Arab Emirates is to a large extent dependent on the import of agri-food products and is interested in increasing strategic food reserves.

Minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski informed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic Poland, as an important producer of food, had surpluses of production capacity and could largely meet the UAE’s demand. The most prospective products include chilled and frozen beef and poultry.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the priority countries in the promotion of the Polish agri-food sector, due to the permanent interest of operators from this sector in the expansion in the Gulf countries. The export value does not reflect the actual potential of this country and the current situation in the global agricultural markets seems to be an opportunity for intensifying trade cooperation between the Polish agri-food sector and Emirati partners.

In 2019, the total value of Polish export of agri-food products to the UAE amounted to nearly EUR 71.2 million and grew by about 24% in relation to 2018. Major commodities exported to the UAE last year included: flour products, bakery products, confectionery, chocolate and cocoa-containing food products. An important export product were also apples.

Any information on the Emirati market’s demand for Polish agri-food products is updated on an ongoing basis on the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s website, in the “Export opportunities” tab: https://www.gov.pl/web/rolnictwo/zjednoczone-emiraty-arabskie.