USD 12 billion, annual Arab food deficit

The secretary general of the federation of the Arab chambers of commerce and industry in the United Arab Emirates Abdullah Sultan Abdullah al-Ameen said that the Arab states, including the Arab Gulf state suffer a growing food discrepancy of a total cost of USD 13 billion annually during the few past years.

Abdullah expected the Arab states to face an inevitable and increasing nearby danger in this discrepancy when the food industries producing and exporting countries will raise and cancel support for its production and the implications of such a measure in price increase of these basic products in the world markets.

He added that this will be also reflected on the production cost of Arab food industries products which depend mainly on imports of foodstuffs. A mater which makes of it face more difficulties in the abilities of the Arab states to compete or even to continue production under the process of liberalizing trade.