A webinar "Russian-Saudi food trade: export and import", organized by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Al Sharqiya (the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia) with the support of the Russian Food House, was held on December 9.
"I am sure that today's event, dedicated to the interaction between Russian companies and Saudi companies, will be a landmark step and will allow for a major breakthrough in our business relations," opened the webinar with these words, Mr.Suren Vardanyan, the Vice President of the MCCI. He noted that in recent years there has been a growing interest of Russian (primarily, Moscow’s) companies in entering the market of the Persian Gulf countries and, specifically, Saudi Arabia. According to him, there is an increase in trade turnover between the two countries - in 2019 it was $1.7 billion. "We will see growth of Russian brands in the Saudi market and we expect an increase in imports from Saudi companies. I think that, based on the results of this event, many will be able to take a decisive step," expressed his hope Mr. Vardanyan.
"There exist similar visions and desires in our countries today, and there is a surge of interest on both sides. Food trade is important for both countries, and, today, we will talk about measures to support and develop this sector," supported his colleague in his welcoming remarks, Mr. Bader Al Reziza, the Vice Chairman of the Al-Sharqiya Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Mr. Khalid Alzahrani, the Head of food quality control of the Saudi Arabian Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), and Mr. Nuha Alzughaibi, the e-commerce specialist of the same authority, gave a detailed report on the legal aspects and procedures for importing food and medicines into Saudi Arabia. The country now has a population of 34.2 million people; 49% of GDP is industry, 48% are services and only 2% is from agriculture. Saudi Arabia is now the largest market in the Middle East and North Africa and aims to become the world's 15th largest economy (it currently ranks 18th in the world in terms of GDP). The speakers gave a brief overview of the rules and standards of food imports in force in Saudi Arabia, described the algorithm of checking the imported goods for compliance with these standards, and described the Bank of Ideas, established for the transparency of procedures.
The speaker at the webinar - the Chairman of the MCCI’s Commission on foreign economic cooperation with partners in the UAE, representative of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, the Director of the Russian Food House in the UAE, Mr. Alexey Busev, in his speech, drew attention of the audience to the fact that the market of Saudi Arabia is the largest among the Gulf countries and provides favourable opportunities for entering markets of other countries of the region. He spoke about the activities of the Russian Food House, which opened in Dubai in 2018, (a project of the Russian Export Center), whose main priority is to promote Russian companies in the region, and invited the latter to collaborate. The speaker also informed the Saudi partners about the opportunities that exist in the Russian market and the assistance that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry is ready and willing to provide for their companies.
Mr. Hussam Alarradi, the Director of food investment at the Saudi Ministry of Investments, detailed the opportunities his country offers to investors and listed seven reasons to invest in its economy. He said that Saudi Arabia is currently implementing a series of reforms to improve its business climate. He also gave a brief overview of his country's food market, which today amounts to 166 billion Saudi rials. Today, there is an intense interest in imports of poultry and processed meat, as well as canned tuna.
Mr. Konstantin Evstyukhin, the Managing Director for subsidy administration at the Russian Export Center, noted that in the first nine months of 2020, despite the pandemic, Russia's trade with Saudi Arabia increased by 0.3% compared with last year's and totalled $1.2 billion, with Russian exports (meat and meat products, dairy products, eggs, honey, etc.) exceeding $1 billion in volume. The speaker spoke about the main instruments of support for Russian companies entering the Saudi market: compensation of half the costs of transporting goods, up to 90% of the cost of certifying products, compensation for patenting costs and payment of duties abroad. Starting next year, a program for compensation of costs for participation in international exhibitions will commence.
Mr. Grigory Smirnov, the Head of “Foreign HoReCa” and a specialist on the Persian Gulf countries of the Miratorg Holding, said that the holding has been supplying (beef and chicken) to Saudi Arabia for five years, and intends to expand the range of exported products.
At the end of the webinar, the speakers answered many questions from the audience.