The Minister of Productive Development gave details about the provincial participation in Gulfood, the international food industry fair: "The products we’ve come to offer have to do with the cluster of vegetables and dairy products".
The Minister of Productive Development of the Province, Gustavo Puccini, presented this Thursday, in Rosario, a report on the actions carried out at Gulfood, the prestigious international fair of the food industry, which took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There, the provincial government accompanied 20 companies from Santa Fe to explore and deepen new markets. In addition, the delegation had an important agenda in Saudi Arabia.
"At the fair, Santa Fe companies sold 150 containers directly to different countries in the world. That was a sale of more than 3.5 million dollars. Those are foreign currencies that are going to enter the province of Santa Fe. And they are also projecting more than 13 million dollars for the middle of the year. And, surely, there will be many more sales", remarked the minister.
Puccini highlighted: "It has been the first international tour that we have made as a government in one of the most important food and beverage fairs in the world. It has been very important for the province: 20 out of 100 companies that participated in the Argentinian stand were from Santa Fe"
Exchange
Minister Puccini went on saying: "We had meetings with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, which is one of the most important chambers in the Arab world, because it allows us to enter many markets such as Africa, China, Asia, and that gives us the possibility that our products, if they can get there, can also be re-exported to other regions of the world". The delegation also spoke with the Beef Promotion Institute about the Halal certification that allows the entry into these markets.
Likewise, Puccini explained: “From the United Arab Emirates, we went to Saudi Arabia, the most important country in the Persian Gulf, which has many supply needs. It imports 95% of its foodstuffs. That is where our interest lies as we found there an alternative market, a possibility for our province, in terms of food, in terms of cereals, to supply part of the needs that the Arab world has", he explained.
Added value
On the other hand, the Secretary of Foreign Trade, Georgina Losada, highlighted: "It is very important that our first international mission is to this market. From the first day, Minister Gustavo Puccini and Governor Maximiliano Pullaro have asked us to establish an Arab table. It is a market that imports 90% of what they consume. At the same time, they have a very young population that is opening up, they are becoming more westernized in the sense that they are demanding high quality food with a lot of added value."
"Argentina, and Santa Fe in particular, have many opportunities, because of the quality of our products, because we have a very high price-quality ratio, very beneficial for them, and because the culture of our country is highly valued", he added.
Public-private articulation
Businessmen and businesswomen who participated in the trade mission were also present. The representative of Rigran-Riboldi S.A., Sol Depetris, highlighted the support from the government. “It is good to have government representatives at the fairs, because they have closer contacts with the different links in the production chain”, she said.
In the same sense, Agricultores Federados Argentinos (AFA) Exports Manager, Alejandro Scarabelli , highlighted the importance of giving continuity to a state policy in which Santa Fe has been a pioneer, since the 90s, in going out as a subnational state, together with Córdoba, to show not only exportable supply, but to negotiate on parity with the different governments of the Gulf.
On the other hand, the CEO of Inalpa SA, Mayra Boglich, remarked: “For a SME, exports have become a tool not only for growth, but also to leverage what is happening in the national economy, because demand has fallen and this is an opportunity to offset that fall". She then recalled: “The United Arab Emirates are a large market for vegetables, and they look at Argentina as a country with infinite natural resources, with high quality and healthy products".
In the activity also participated Alejandra Porrini, from Inalpa SA; Mauricio Díaz, from Matresfood; José D'Aloisio, from FyO; Cristian Amuchástegui, from Jewell Especialidades; Felipe Uranga, from Uranga Trading; Cristian Marull, from Special Commodity; Santiago Pochettino, from Gruposur Exports; and Andrea Foglia, from La Sibilia.
