The PM of Dubai unveils blueprint for a $1.5 bn Food Park

The Dollar Business Bureau 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of UAE unveiled his government’s plans for setting up a $1.5 bn Food Park in his country. The blueprint for the Dubai Food Park(DFP) was shown to the media on 23 August. 

The UAE state media agency representative WAM, said that the country aims to take advantage of Dubai’s strategic position as a regional hub for food trade, export, import and trading of foodstuffs. The Food Park is the latest addition to the Dubai Wholesale City(DWSC), the largest wholesale hub in the world that is likely to take up 550 million square feet. The DFP could take 10 years to be constructed, covering nearly 48 million square feet of the DWSC, with an estimated cost of $8.2 billion. 

The idea of a Food Park in Dubai comes at a time when food trade takes up 11% of UAE’s GDP. The UAE food industry is likely to grow by 70% to $6.3 bn by 2030. 

The CEO of DFP, Abdulla Belhoul, speaking about the project said, "DFP has been established to meet the increased need for specialized logistical services to reduce supply chain costs. The park will be a one-stop destination for the government, administrative and logistical services related to food wholesale, import, export, and re-export." The uniqueness of the park lies in the fact that anything and everything related to the food sector will be available at one place. It will have a central wholesale market that will cater to the retail, hospitality, and food service sector, a logistics division, a package handling division, an area for recycling organic waste, and an exclusive section that will cater to government services like customs clearance, food, and safety inspection and licensing too. 

Dubai is strategically located at the crossroads between the West and East and has world class infrastructure on both land and sea. The UAE government intends to take advantage of this strategic location and provide a conducive and attractive environment to global food investors by supporting security and enhancing innovation.