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AD Ports Group to host World Union of Wholesale Markets 2022 Conference

ABU DHABI, Abu Dhabi Ports Group (AD Ports Group), the leading facilitator of global trade, logistics, and industry in Abu Dhabi, announced today that it will host the 2022 edition of the World Union of Wholesale Markets Conference (WUWM).

WUWM is a major event for the fresh food industry that will bring together high-level public and private sector practitioners and experts from around the world in productive dialogues around major challenges that food systems are facing.

Held in the Middle East for the first time, the event will take place at a crucial time, in which the issue of food security rose as a top priority for governments and communities around the world.

The current situation in Ukraine, staff shortages, border disputes, port congestions, increasing fuel prices, widespread food sourcing issues and the effects of climate change on food production are among the major challenges facing the global food industry.

With the theme “Global food security in the XXIs: Risks, challenges and solutions to ensure resilient and sustainable fresh food supply chains”, WUWM Abu Dhabi 2022 Conference will bring together the major actors of the fresh food system to discuss innovative and effective ways to ensure more resilient and sustainable fresh food supply chains.

In the Gulf Cooperation Council region nearly 80 percent of domestic food is imported, therefore WUWM Conference will offer an important opportunity to find pathways to strengthen regional resilience and network with key suppliers.

Moreover, as part of the national Food Security Strategy, the UAE aims to become the most secure nation in the Global Food Security Index by 2051. Following this goal, in February this year, AD Ports Group announced that it had partnered with Ghassan Aboud Group to establish the region’s largest multi-category wholesale food trading and logistics marketplace in KIZAD.

The event, which will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 20th to 22nd October, 2022, aspires to make a tangible contribution to finding global multistakeholder innovative solutions to facilitate access for all to healthy fresh food and tackle the possibilities of the food crisis.

Saeed Al Bahri Salem Al Ameri, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), said, “The national strategy for food security represents a working agenda for all of us to ensure the efficiency in food production and achieving agile food supply chains, easing the food trade, supporting technology-enabled food production, and building a food ecosystem that can deliver safe food and deal with food risks and crises.”

Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group, stated, “Under the guidance of our nation’s wise leadership, we are working with key partners to support a productive dialogue on collective responses to food security. In parallel, we are developing sustainable food supply systems and infrastructure that guarantees access to advanced quality control and safety measures, along with sustainable solutions not only for local but also for regional and international production and distribution, leveraging our unique and strategic location as a gateway to 4.5 billion consumers.”

Stéphane Layani, Chairman of the World Union of Wholesale Markets, congratulated the UAE for taking the lead in the region and welcomed this upcoming conference with great resolution for its outcomes. “The whole world is at the gates of a possible severe food crisis. The WUWM Abu Dhabi 2022 Conference represents an opportunity for experts, stakeholders and practitioners of the sector to engage in a productive multi-stakeholder dialogue and make our best to find concrete innovative solutions to build greater fresh food supply chain resiliency in order to ensure food security worldwide in the forthcoming years and decades.”

Eugenia Carrara, Secretary-General of The World Union of Wholesale Markets, shared the same commitments. “In the post-COVID-19 world, we need to reinvent ‘food architecture’ to succeed in the transition of food systems into sustainability and resilience. Our members are working together to ensure safety, affordability, and sustainable access to fresh food for all through modern wholesale markets and more efficient food supply chains. It is more important than ever that we all work together to ensure food security so that everyone has access to food.”

Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNEC, said, “Abu Dhabi hosting the World Wholesale Association Conference for the first time at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) reinforces the capital’s leading position globally as a destination for business tourism. It embodies the role of the company in supporting many strategic sectors in the country, most notably the food security sector.”

With 220 members (wholesale markets, retail fresh food markets and other main stakeholders from the fresh food sector), located in 40 countries and five continents, the organisation leads international efforts to ensure food security and facilitate the transition of food systems to sustainability and resilience, ensuring healthy, guaranteed and accessible diets for everyone. WUWM members account for 50 percent of all the fresh produce (mainly fruits and vegetables) consumed in the world.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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