Amaravati: UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism, Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Tuesday and discussed the proposed establishment of a food cluster in the state.
The delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held discussions with the Chief Minister and senior officials at the State Secretariat.
The state government said that a decision has been taken to establish a value chain for exporting various horticultural products—including mangoes, bananas, and cocoa—to international markets.
An agreement for establishing a food cluster was reached at the World Economic Forum meet at Davos early this year.
According to an official release, the UAE had expressed its readiness to set up the food cluster in Andhra Pradesh during Chandrababu Naidu’s visit to Davos.
The UAE decided to establish a value chain in the food processing sector in Andhra Pradesh. A partnership has been formed between the Andhra Pradesh government and the UAE to this effect, it said.
Industries Minister TG Bharat and senior officials from the Food Processing, Industries, and EDB departments attended the meeting.
Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri had a meeting with Chandrababu Naidu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in January.
It was then announced that the UAE Dubai Food Cluster would work together with the Andhra Pradesh Food Processing sector.
The UAE minister had also assured to extend support to the State in the establishment of around 40 institutions from the UAE in Andhra Pradesh.
They had also discussed ongoing and potential collaborations across food, multimodal logistics, energy, ports, and retail to strengthen the economic partnership between Andhra Pradesh and the UAE.
Discussions were also held on the proposal of setting up a multimodal logistics park by Sharaf Group of the UAE in Andhra Pradesh.
Chandrababu Naidu had expressed hope that there would be further growth in employment opportunities and exports in Andhra Pradesh through a strategic partnership with the UAE.
(IANS)
