Facility at Dubai Wholesale City would bolster Dubai’s role as a regional hub in food trade and re-export
Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attended a briefing to announce Dubai Holding’s plan to develop a Food Park serving business operators and investors in the food sector.
The Park is planned for Dubai Wholesale City, where it would occupy 4.5m sqm and benefit from good land, marine, and air transport links.
To be developed at an anticipated cost of AED5.5bn, the project would be close to Dubai South, only 10 minutes away from Al Maktoum International Airport and the Expo 2020 Dubai site, and a 15-minute drive from Jebel Ali Free Zone.
Dubai Holding claims the scheme would improve the emirate’s food security and enhance its position as a regional hub for the food trade and reexport of foodstuffs. The food trade is estimated to provide 11% of the UAE’s GDP and the food industry is forecast to grow by 70% to AED23bn by 2030.
The Park is set to provide government services including customs, clearance, licensing, food safety, and supervision all under one roof.
His Excellency Abdulla Al Habbai, chairman of Dubai Holding, said Dubai Food Park has been established to meet the growing demand from the food sector in the UAE and the region, triggered by population growth and the development of the tourism sector.
“There is an increased need for specialised logistical services that ease supply chain costs, as well as for more dedicated spaces to accommodate the fast-growing operations of food companies in Dubai,” he said.
Dubai Food Park would include a central wholesale market for the retail, hospitality, and food service sector, a logistics area, an area for complementary services such as packing, repacking, and processing, and a dedicated area for handling packaged goods. It would also host employees’ accommodation, in addition to hotels, financial services, a centre for integrated government services, and facilities for recycling organic waste. Dubai Holdings said the Park would be a “world-class eco-friendly business community”.