UAE, Japan collaboration deal to benefit Abu Dhabi’s agri sector

Abu Dhabi / WAM

The Abu Dhabi Farmers’ Services Centre (ADFSC), concluded a cooperation agreement with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), which provides financial services to the UAE and Japanese companies operating in the UAE. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 2018 Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA).
The agreement was signed by the ADFSC Acting CEO, Nasser Mohammed Al Junaibi, and Masaaki Sasai, Executive Officer and Deputy Head of Financial Solutions Unit, SMBC, in the presence of Saeed Al Bahri Al Ameri, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, and Kotaro Suzuki, Charge d’Affaires ad interim and a number of officials from both sides.
The agreement aims at exchanging information related to the agricultural sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, supporting clients of SMBC in investment in agriculture, or those wishing to expand their activities in this field. The ADFSC is to provide SMBC with the necessary information to support agricultural investment and sector development that ensure greater contribution to GDP and natural resource sustainability.
As per the agreement, the areas of cooperation between the ADFSC and the SMBC are focused on protected agriculture and post-harvest techniques or other technologies that support the transition to modern agriculture and ensure the sustainability of water and soil resources, such as efficient cooling systems for greenhouses, production of organic vegetables and green waste technologies.
Nasser Mohammed Al Junaibi, Acting CEO of ADFSC, hailed the cooperation with SMBC’s as one of the leading banks in the field of finance and related advisory. “As part of our commitment to provide all forms of technical and commercial support to our farmers to achieve sustainable agricultural policy, we have sought to conclude this agreement to strengthen communication with the best international institutions and transfer and localise modern agriculture techniques to build the capacity of the national farmers, and improve the efficiency of the production chain and technical and economic feasibility studies of the proposed agricultural techniques”, he said.
Al Junaibi added, “The Centre works in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority to translate the Abu Dhabi Government’s vision for increasing the contribution of non-oil sectors to GDP. The agreement, along with the SMBC, helps to increase investment in agriculture and transfer of advanced technology, which support this vision, help optimising the use of natural resources and adopting the best techniques for protected agriculture and post-harvest technologies, effective cooling systems, expansion of organic agriculture and recycling of green waste.”