Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has started preparations to participate in SIAL 2016, an international food exhibition set to open in Paris on October.
The five-day exhibition is expected to attract key businessmen, decision-makers, and investors in the food and beverage industry from across the world. Through the support of its export arm, Tasdeer, QDB will be participating in the exhibition along with 14 local companies at the Qatar Pavilion.
The participation in the event, poised as the “world’s largest food innovation exhibition,” comes in line with QDB’s efforts to support the Qatari food and beverage industry, helping the local agri-food manufacturers to promote their products in the international market and secure new export opportunities globally.
SIAL is a global trade fair that connects professionals in the agri-food industry by facilitating the meeting of potential buyers and suppliers through exhibitions that take place in different cities.
This year, SIAL Paris will see the participation of local food manufacturers, including Qatar Flour Mills Company, Qatar Tunisian Food Company, Qatar Meat Production Company, and other Qatari companies that are qualified to export their products overseas.
QDB chief executive officer Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa said: “Through our participation in SIAL Paris, we seek to promote our local food manufacturers across the globe and advance Qatar National Vision 2030’s objectives of diversifying national sources of income.
“QDB is dedicated to partaking in all local and international commercial activities that will help Qatar’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to strengthen their capacity to achieve growth and mature to a level at which they can independently compete on a global level in future. We are confident in the capabilities of local companies, which have attained distinctive success across marketplaces
internationally in the past.”
QDB Tasdeer executive director Hassan Khalifa al-Mansoori said: “QDB’s export arm, Tasdeer, strongly supported this initiative due to our ambition to open new markets to Qatar’s local food producers. This year, we will participate in SIAL Paris by hosting a pavilion featuring 14 local companies, who wish to expand their operations abroad and increase their competitiveness.
During the last 10 years, these Qatari food manufacturers have developed a stellar reputation and we hope to unlock their global commercial potential through our participation at the upcoming
SIAL Paris exhibition.”
In the past, Tasdeer has contributed greatly to promoting the presence of Qatari exports in foreign markets through a wide range of activities and events, such as international exhibitions, bilateral trade co-operation programmes and training workshops.
The research team at Tasdeer regularly publishes their findings in a variety of manuals with specialised instructions such as “Trade Secrets: The Export Answer Book for SMEs” and “Qatar’s Exporters Directory.”
In addition to offering local exporters valuable consultation, these publications have sought to provide information on accesses QDB’s financing and insurance coverage solutions available to Qatari exporters against the risk of a loss of funds inherent in the global export trade.