Building up a food security agribusiness corridor between the UAE, Suriname and Caribbean countries was the main focal point of a visit by Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, to the Republic of Suriname.

Taking place July 18-19, the visit by Her Excellency and other UAE delegates formed part of a food security itinerary to Latin America that has the aim of expanding international cooperation in the areas of food trade, agri-investments and research and development (R&D) across all aspects of the food supply chain.

Underpinning Her Excellencys visit was a report aggregated by the Minister of States Office of Food Security, with the support of the UAE embassy in Brasilia, that plot the current barriers to Surinamese food trade in the Caribbean. The document gave a number of recommendations on how these could be overcome by leveraging the UAEs leadership in logistics and support in R&D.

Realising the need for developing a robust cooperation framework, the delegation led by H.E. Almheiri incorporated a number of senior officials and experts capable of developing integrated solutions covering all aspects of food security along the supply chain, including, pre- and post- harvesting, storage, transport and other logistical considerations. The areas of focus included ensuring food safety, promoting the agri-trade of high quality food products and maintaining price stability, as part of a larger picture of strengthening UAE national food security.

Among those in her team offering expert guidance on the various elements were H.E. Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO and Managing Director - DP World-UAE Region; H.E. Nasser Mohammed Al Junaibi, CEO Farmers Service Centre - Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority; Ali Omar Abdullah, Director, Policies and Strategy Division - Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority and Abdelrahman Almaazmi, Second Secretary in the UAE embassy in Brasilia.

There is tremendous potential for Suriname to expand its food exports to become an important Caribbean food security partner and the UAE has the capacity to help the country realise this potential. My meeting with government officials responsible for the Surinamese food security sector was centred on enhancing cooperation and partnership between our countries to create a viable food security corridor a worthy strategic objective that not only serves the UAE and Suriname, but serves also Caribbean countries that suffer a number of food production challenges, including adverse weather systems and a lack of fertile land for crop growing, said
H.E. Almheiri.

Among the areas of discussion were how the commercialisation of Surinamese agri-products could serve the Caribbean community through economic free zones run by international port operator DP World - a global leader in logistics. DP World currently operates two terminals in Suriname The talks examined how the paperless mechanisms DP World has created and its advanced use of blockchain could support the need for the de-bureaucratisation processes that is currently impeding the exports of Surinamese agro-products.

Another area explored was how the UAE could use its experience and know-how with the UAE-based International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture to explore opportunities to improve yields, overcome drought challenges and train women in farming.

Success in our food corridor initiative depends on mutual assistance and bilateral efforts to drive results, Her Excellency included.

Her Excellency Almheiris agenda in Suriname concluded with a concurred framework between both governments covering four key topics to create the UAESuriname Food Corridor: connectivity, agribusiness and investments, R&D, and technical cooperation.