Dubai Exports, an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED), recently organized a B2B meeting for UAE companies to develop business relationships with companies from Saudi Arabia and India. The event included 50 companies, 40 from UAE and 10 from Saudi Arabia and India, from the construction, petrochemical and services sectors. The program included one-to-one meetings allowing Saudi Arabian and Indian companies to meet with a minimum of five UAE companies during the event. “Among our objectives at Dubai Exports is to enhance the competitiveness of Dubai and the UAE by promoting exports from the Emirates. The B2B meeting is one of the effective tools that provide direct platforms to encourage our local companies in exploring trade opportunities with other companies in different key markets,” said Saed Al Awadi, chief executive officer, Dubai Exports. “Our trade representation offices in Saudi Arabia and India assist in enabling UAE companies to grow regionally and globally. Attendees from the event were also presented with the export services we currently offer and how we can aid them to meet potential trade partners in the region,” he added. During the event, the Dubai Exports team worked on studying current business opportunities and needs in various sectors in Saudi Arabia and India, as well as highlighting the expertise and capabilities of UAE companies to provide these needs. Currently, Dubai Exports' representation offices in Saudi Arabia (OTO-KSA) and India (OTO-India) offer expert advice and support to members seeking to wider market opportunities in these countries. Aside from inward and outward missions such as B2B meetings, among the services provided by OTO-KSA and OTO-India are quick market assessments to enable UAE companies to collect adequate information about the status of different commodities in these markets including identifying and overcoming issues related to exporting from Dubai to Saudi Arabia and India. Saad Ghanem, marketing manager, Mohammed Bawazir for Trading in Saudi Arabia, said; “Since our establishment in 1987, we are working in the import of commodities of food, consumer products, as well as distribution operations in all parts of the Saudi market. To cover the company's large business segments, we are constantly looking for partners who can meet the needs of our customers. Through the matchmaking event, we are able to meet companies in the UAE that caters to the same field and we hope to work and exchange expertise with them.” Samer El-Kari, exports and purchasing manager at Al Fares Food Industries, in Saudi Arabia added that they were keen to look for companies from the Gulf region to cooperate with them as it saves time and cost in terms of trading. “The UAE companies have high quality products at a low cost, which can further bolster our businesses. This event contributed in increasing our knowledge of the industrial capabilities of several UAE companies including the actual support that the government provides which can result in expanding our operations and re-exporting our products from UAE to other countries in the region.”
