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Vimala Vasan

ABU DHABI, Oct. 1

THE Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) is planning to enter into an arrangement with the Hamriyah Free Zone in Sharjah Emirate to set up cold storage and warehousing facilities.

Mr A.S. Rawat, General Manager-Horticulture, Apeda, who is leading a large team of Apeda to Food Fair 2000 currently under way in Sharjah, told Business Line that the organisation was looking to boost exports of food products in key global markets including West Asia.

Keeping in mind the authority's focus on development of agri-export zones in India, he said there was a need to go beyond trading in key international markets. ``We are keen to facilitate exporters so that they can have some sort of a base to enable them to store their export items overseas. This will help direct access to the market, avoid problems associated with middlemen and prevent distress sales due to lack of storage space,'' he explained.

The Apeda team will hold talks with Hamriyah freezone authorities during the current visit to work out the feasibility of setting up a warehousing facility. ``Once we have a long term tie-up, we will encourage leading entrepreneurs to also set up their storage facilities in the zone,'' he said.

India is a major trading partner in the field of agro and food products, with countries of the Gulf and West Asia, with exports totalling $163 million in 2000-01, accounting for eight per cent of the total global Indian agro exports of $2,047 million. ``We have been maintaining a steady rate of growth in this region. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are the major markets. Rice and chilled meat are among the products in high demand,'' he said. Apeda has recorded a rise in global exports due to the success it has had in new markets such as Latin America, Caribbean, CIS and Africa.

Mr Rawat said the authority was laying emphasis on the agri-export zones, 32 of which have already been set up. He anticipated that these zones would give a big boost to exports in the coming years.

Mr S.N. Bhatnagar, Senior Manager, ITPO, who is leading the Indian team to the Sharjah fair, said major organisations as Apeda, the Coconut Development Board and MPEDA were participating in the fair. ``This is the first time ITPO is participating in this fair and we are happy with the response. The potential for expanding exports of food and related products is high and we are keen to facilitate boosting trade with this region,'' he said. Indian participants also had one-to-one business meetings with exporters and retailers in Sharjah on Monday.

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