Food imports to the Gulf region may more than double over the decade, UAE's Minister of Trade Lubna Al Qasimi said. She told a seminar at food fair Gulfood in Dubai that imports would grow from $25.8 billion in 2010 to $53.1 billion in 2020, based on estimates from the Economist Intelligence Unit. According to forecasts, consumption of food in the region should reach 51.1 million tons in 2020, with average annual growth of 4.6 percent, the Arab Brazil News Agency reported. It said projections, according to the minister, were based on the expected growth in population of the GCC, which could reach 50 million by the end of the decade. In the UAE, the second biggest market in the region behind Saudi Arabia, imports are set to grow from $3 billion in 2011 to $8.4 billion in 2020. Food consumption in the country should grow 5.4 percent a year on average. Al Qasimi said the restaurant sector was slated to grow 30 percent over the next four years, to be worth $780 million. Highly dependent on food imports due to the lack of fertile lands, the countries in the Gulf are increasingly attempting to tackle the issue of food security. The United Nations estimates that $70 billion in additional investment each year will be necessary to guarantee the supply of the global population by 2050. "For a region such as the Gulf... there is an added urgency to secure (food) sources that are safe and sustainable," Al Qasimi was quoted as saying. With their food imports to hit 51 million tons in 2020 (currently 40.6 million tons), Gulf countries are pushing up the hygienic standards of their food and beverage ( F&B) industry and are opening more doors to exporters across the globe, according to the trends shown at the ongoing Gulfood held in Dubai. The Gulf Arab's total population will grow from 40 million to 50 million by 2020. According the (UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade, some 90 percent of the country's comestible goods are imported due to its hot and humid desert climate. The entire Arab world comprises some 350 million people. Because of this, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an El Dorado for the global food industry. Exporters to the region face two challenges. The Arab states demand the F&B companies not only fulfill strict quality standards similar to those in the European Union (EU) but also be processed in line with the Islamic law. According to the research group Euromonitor International, the global halal food industry has reached $1.2 trillion in 2010 and is going to double by 2014.
