"It gives me immense pleasure to note that a special supplement is being taken out by Gulf News on the opportunities offered by the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir for the UAE.
The UAE-India Food Security Summit, also saw the participation of a large delegation from Jammu & Kashmir, comprising Government officials, farmers and exporters. This was a reflection of the importance attached by the Government of India on development and employment generation in the region, especially in the areas of tourism and horticulture. This has been possible, following a series of administrative and legal reforms, which have paved the way for greater public participation and have also served to attract foreign direct investment into the UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
“The Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, is fully committed to bringing an unprecedented wave of development to Jammu & Kashmir in various sectors, including tourism, infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare and education. Jammu & Kashmir, which has some of the most scenic and beautiful landscapes across the globe, is on the path to comprehensive development. The exhibition organised by the Department of Horticulture and Agri-Products of Jammu & Kashmir, on the margins of the recently concluded UAE-India Food Security Summit, in Dubai on Dec 8-9, 2020, not only showcased some of their finest agri-products, including fresh fruits, rice, honey and GI tagged Kashmiri Saffron, but also witnessed a Kashmiri ‘Wazwan’ Food Festival. This was perhaps the first time that such kind of showcasing of J&K’s cuisine and agri-products took place in the UAE, and its residents were able to savour the delicacies of “Wazwan” - the unique cuisine of the Kashmir valley.
“The UAE-India Food Security Summit, also saw the participation of a large delegation from Jammu & Kashmir, comprising Government officials, farmers and exporters. This was a reflection of the importance attached by the Government of India on development and employment generation in the region, especially in the areas of tourism and horticulture. This has been possible, following a series of administrative and legal reforms, which have paved the way for greater public participation and have also served to attract foreign direct investment into the UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
“The delegation from Jammu & Kashmir, led by their Principal Secretary, Navin Choudhary, saw the participation of more than 15 companies from the Union Territory. They had fruitful discussions during B2B meetings with their UAE counterparts as well as with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. The Ambassador of UAE to India, Dr Ahmed Al Banna also met with the delegation and promised them all support in their endeavour to bring Kashmiri products onto the global map through the UAE.
“I was also happy to note a few important announcements made by some of the most prominent business houses of the UAE. For instance, the LuLu Group has announced their intention to set up a full fledged procurement centre and food processing centre in Srinagar. The LuLu Group has already been procuring fresh farm products from J&K and I recall how they had showcased Kashmiri apples in their hypermarkets in UAE last November. With their latest announcement, this partnership between LuLu Group and J&K will be a win-win situation for both farmers and consumers by ensuring better product quality, technical know-how, storage etc, as well as better prices and fresher products being made available in GCC and MENA region, using Dubai as a regional hub. Apart from that, other supermarket chains such as Al Maya have also shown great interest in procurement of Kashmiri saffron and other products from J&K. We also hope to have direct air cargo linkages between Srinagar and the UAE in the near future that will provide a further boost to bilateral trade between Jammu & Kashmir and the UAE.”
