On the second leg of his week long visit to the Gulf States, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, met the Chairman of Agthia, Mr. Rashed Mubarak Al Hajeri.
Established in 2004, Agthia is a key player in Abu Dhabi’s food security strategy, and is 51% owned by the Abu Dhabi Government. It is actively involved in government food security initiatives, and its Chairman also sits on the board of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority.
Agthia is a major purchaser of raw materials and a manufacturer of dairy and other products. It has major interests in agri and consumer businesses, manufacturing and marketing a product range as diverse as flour and animal feed, mineral water, fruit juices and yoghurts.
Speaking after the meeting, Minister Coveney said:
“Agthia is one of the major players in the food sector in the Gulf Region, with an active role in relation to food security. I was delighted to have the opportunity today to present Ireland’s Food Harvest Plan for the development of its agri food sector, and to outline the tremendous potential for mutually beneficial commercial arrangements between Irish companies and major purchasers of raw materials and food products in Abu Dhabi.
The opportunities for the development of positive business relationships between Irish operators in the dairy, beef and sheepmeat sectors, and for the commercialisation of Irish expertise in areas such as food safety and product development, and food technology have never been more evident, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to increase the profile of the Irish agri food sector with such an influential international player.
The Minister also visited the Lulu’s retail group, which is among the largest retailers in the Middle East, and one of the fastest growing globally. The company already stocks a number of high quality Irish food products and the visit assisted Irish suppliers in increasing their profile with the company.
There day also had a strong food engineering and technology focus. In this regard the Minister facilitated a meeting between 10 Irish companies in this sector an UAE market experts , who
provided advice on routes to market and identified potential contacts in the Region. The Minister said that he was pleased to be in a position to provide a platform for developing Irish companies in this sector which had so much potential.
Bord Bia have also announced today that they will be opening an office in the region to provide support the doubling of exports by 2020, which was welcomed by Minister Coveney.
The Minister and accompanying agencies and companies are continuing the week long trip to the Gulf travelling tomorrow to Dubai and then onto Saudi. With almost 20 meetings haven now taken place over 2 days there has been very positive discussion and serious progress in the areas of equine, food security along with dairy and beef exports.
Schedule for October 29th to October 31st
Time Meeting
Saturday 26th October Dublin/Abu Dhabi UAE/ Doha QATAR
9:20 Dept for Abu Dhabi
19:50 Arrive Abu Dhabi
21:50 Depart Abu Dhabi
21:50 Arrive Doha, Qatar(I hr difference)
Depart Airport for hotel
Sunday 27th: Doha Qatar / Abu Dhabi UAE
Time Meeting
6:30 Depart Sheraton
07:30-08:30 Irish Qatari Business Breakfast
9:45 Meeting with Minister for Environment H.E. Ahmad Bin Amer Bin Mohammed Al Hemaidi
10:45 Meeting with Hassad: Food Focused Sovereign Wealth Fund
11:15 Depart Hassad for Meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs
11:30-12:15 Meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs
12:20-14:00 ITM Programme: Meetings (HRI & ITM Lunch)
Mr Al Naemi (Kilfrush)
Horse Sport Ireland Meeting
Hr Hamad Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah (President of Qatar Equestrian Federation).
14:30 Meeting Chairman Qatar National Food Security Programme
15:45 Depart QNFSP for Airport
16:30 Arrive Doha Airport
17:55 Depart Doha(Qatar) for Abu Dhabi
19:55 Arrive Abu Dhabi, transfer to Radisson Blu Hotel, Yas Island
21:30 Working Dinner
Monday 28th: Abu Dhabi UAE
Time Meeting
07:00-08:00 Breakfast Briefing: Minister & Companies
9:15 Depart for Meeting with Chairman of ADDED
10:00 Meeting with HE. Nasser A. Alsowaidi-Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Dept Of Economic Development (ADDED) in the presence of H.E. Mohamed Omar Abdulla - Undersecretary of ADDED
11:45 Meeting with Mr Al Hajeri, Chairman of the Agthia, Food and beverages company.
13:00-15:00 Abu Dhabi Irish Business Council Lunch, Ministerial Key Note Address
15:30 Lulus Store Visit
16:30 Al Forsan Equestrian centre
18:00-18:30 Meeting with Minister and Agri Tech Companies
19:30-21:00 Trade Reception: Ministerial Key Note Address
Irish Trade Delegation, Customers, Media, Irish Business Network
During Reception Meeting with Mr Yuseff Ali, Managing Director, Lulus supermarkets:
Post Reception Debriefing and Preparatory meeting for Tuesday
Tuesday 29th Abu Dhani & Dubai UAE / Riyadh KSA
Time Meeting
5:30 Buffet Continental Breakfast
6:00 Depart for Dubai (by Road journey time approx 1hr 15mins)
7:30 Arrive For IBN Business Meeting incl ITM presentation to George Horan of Dubai Duty Free
07:30-09:00 IBN Breakfast Meeting
09:30-10:25 Dubai Chamber Event-Ministerial Speech
11:00-11:30 Meeting with Minister for Environment & Water
12:15 Meeting Spinneys & Store Visit
13:15-14:15 Spinneys Trade Lunch: Ministerial key note address, Customers, Media, Irish Trade delegation
15:00-16:15 Kerry Engagement
16:30 Equine/Thoroughbred related meetings
19:15 Meeting / Tasting with Irish specialist food importer (Gillian O Neill)
21:15 Arrive Dubai Airport
22:30 Depart Dubai for Riyadh
23:30 Arrive Riyadh (2hrs)
23:30 Depart for Hotel
Wednesday 30th October: Riyadh Saudi Arabia
Time Meeting
7:30 Breakfast & Briefing
8:45 Meeting with GCC Secretary General
10:30 Meeting with Agriculture Minister
11:30 Meeting with Saudi Food & Drugs Authority CEO
12:30 IDB lunch event and presentation
14:30 Meeting with Almarai Dairy Company
15:30 Meeting with HH Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad Al Saud
16:30-18:00 Meeting with Agri Tech companies
19:00-21:00 Trade Reception, Embassy of Ireland Irish Trade Delegation, Customers, Media,Irish Business Network
21:00 Depart Trade Reception and Return to Hotel
Thursday 31th October: Riyadh Saudi Arabia/ Dubai & Abu Dhabi UAE
Time Meeting
7:00 Business briefing breakfast: industry and delegation
10:00 Farrelly and Mitchell event
10:30 Meeting with Minister for Agriculture
11:00 Arrive at Arabian Horse Farm
12:00-13:15 Lunch with Agriculture Minister
13:15-14:45 Depart Arabian Horse Farm
Arrive at Riyadh Airport for Flight to Dubai
16:15-19:00 Depart Riyadh: Flight
19:00 Arrive Dubai
Depart Airport for Green Box Event
20:00-23:30 IBN: Green Box Event: Chefs Competition
23:30 Depart Dubai for Abu Dhabi (by road journey time approx 1hr 15 mins)
Friday 1st November: Abu Dhabi UAE / Dublin
Time Meeting
0:45 Arrive at Abu Dhabi airport
2:15 Flight Abu Dhabi to Dublin
6:50 Arrive Dublin