The Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has organized the joint meeting of the Food and Beverage Working Group, with a view to discussing the current and future opportunities of the food and beverage sector in Ajman, discussing opportunities to broaden the exports, monitoring foreign markets to stimulate and increase local production, identifying potential challenges for the sector, developing proposed solutions. The meeting was moderated by Nasser Al Dhafri, Executive Director of Member Support and Innovation Division at ACCI, and attended by a number of officials of the participating government entities, including the Department of Economic Development in Ajman (Ajman DED), the Department of Municipality and Planning in Ajman, Ajman Free Zone, and a number of business owners and establishments operating in the food and beverage sector. Upon opening the meeting, Nasser Al-Dhafri welcomed the attendees and stressed the importance of the joint meeting of the Food and Beverage Working Group in Ajman, which aims to strengthen relations and direct communication between government entities and private sector establishments, to share ideas and proposals that support the development of exports, support the local product, access new markets, and discuss opportunities for participation in external exhibitions. It is one of the key channels for making deals between business owners and increasing the volume of intra-trade between Ajman and the countries of the world. This will promote the ACCI's strategic objectives by anticipating and creating the future of business, enhancing the sustainability and growth of the business community, and diversifying the possibilities of competitiveness and leadership. "By hosting this meeting, ACCI is looking forward to monitoring the challenges and opportunities of the sector and ways to develop it in light of the directives of the ACCI Board of Directors to discuss opportunities for the development and sustainability of the food and beverage sector in line with the UAE directions relating to the food security, as the food and beverage sector is one of the main sectors which the national strategy for industry and advanced technology focuses on." He added. Al-Dhafri pointed to the importance of the food and beverage sector in Ajman and its role in the growth of the emirate's economy, as the sector's contribution to the total industrial output of Ajman reached 4% during the year 2021, with an annual growth rate of 29% in 2021 YoY. The number of factories operating in the food and beverage sector during the year 2021 is 34 factories, with an increase of 6% YoY. During the meeting, the ACCI's services were reviewed, including "economic establishment membership services, certificates of origin and attestation services, legal services, and arbitration & conciliation services provided by the Ajman Center for Conciliation and Arbitration." The attendees were also briefed on the "Foras" platform to develop exports and support local products, which is provided by the ACCI in cooperation with the UAE Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FCCI). The Platform provides a database and information that enables business owners to discover new markets and opens up prospects for cooperation and partnership with business owners from other countries. The ACCI also reviewed the map of its participation in foreign exhibitions, which is initiated during the year 2022 by participating in the “EGYPS 2022” exhibition and conference in Cairo, in addition to the current participation in the "Cosmetista Expo – Casablanca", Kingdom of Morocco, with the participation of a selection of factories and facilities operating in Ajman. During the meeting, the ACCI called on business owners to get acquainted with the plan of the proposed participation in foreign exhibitions during the coming period, which was approved within the annual plan. It also called on its member companies and factories to participate in the external exhibitions they are interested in. The meeting also included a number of discussions and ideas presentations introduced by business owners. The ACCI called on business owners to share ideas, proposals and potential challenges in the future via the “Eshaar” platform, which is intended to collect all proposals, challenges and commercial issues of interest to its members at the local and federal levels, and then study them and develop relevant solutions in coordination with the competent authorities locally and federally. The attendees stressed the importance of the meeting and its role in providing a communication channel to exchange views and ideas between officials of the authorities concerned with economic affairs in Ajman, on the one hand, and business owners, on the other hand. This contributes to the development and growth of the local economy and stimulates the growth of private sector businesses. At the end of the meeting, Nasser Al-Dhafri thanked and appreciated all the attendees, stressing that the meeting has created an opportunity to contribute to the development of the Ajman economy in general and the advancement of the food and beverage sector in Ajman.