GESALO hosts B2B meet to bolster ties in F&B sector

German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs (GESALO) hosted a B2B interaction between the German trade delegation and the Saudi counterparts here on Monday, to bolster bilateral cooperation in the food and beverage (F&B) sector.
A German delegation comprising representatives of various F&B companies led by Artur Ickstadt, deputy head of export division at the German ministry of food and agriculture, arrived in Riyadh on Monday on a four-day visit in order to further enhance cooperation between the two countries.
Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the interactive session, Ickstadt said: "The main objective of this interaction is to provide an opportunity to the businessmen from both sides to explore ways and means to further enhance bilateral cooperation in the food and beverage sector."
Such cooperation will definitely help the Kingdom in its initiatives for food security, which is an important subject here as it imports most of its food requirements from outside and Germany is a key partner being one of the leading food producers and the third largest exporter of food and beverage worldwide, he added.
He pointed out that there are tremendous opportunities available in the food processing and the delegates can discuss bilateral cooperation at this sector-specific program.
Earlier, welcoming the delegates, GESALO head delegate Andreas Hergenroether said, "the bilateral trade between our two countries in the F&B sector has shown significant growth over the past years."
Citing an official data, he stated that global food imports to the Kingdom amounted to $ 20.6 billion, whereas the sum of agriculture commodities and foods shipped from Germany to the Kingdom between 2010 and 2013 rose by more than 100 percent from 461.2 million euros to 1,104.5 billion euros.
He said after the United States, European Union, Russia and Switzerland, Saudi Arabia is the
largest foodstuff importing country from Germany.
Hergenroether added that the market for organic food and processed food is growing rapidly in the Kingdom.
Addressing the session Samer Atwai, retail chain Othaim's vice president (marketing), said food market in the Kingdom is growing at a faster pace and the share of imports getting higher. "KSA depends on imports for 80 of its food needs."
"More than 10 million expatriates living and working in the Kingdom further raise demand of ethnic foods,” he added.
Stefan Weiler, deputy delegate GESALO gave a presentation on the overview of the German food and beverage industry.