Government controls on food prices will ensure shopping remains affordable for families amid a global surge in the cost of goods, the UAE’s Minister of Climate Change and Environment has said.
The country has price caps on thousands of food items, said Mariam Al Mheiri, who oversees food security.
Inflation is on the rise in many countries, including the UAE. Dubai lender Emirates NBD has just revised up its inflation estimate for 2022 to 4-4.5 per cent, from 2-2.5 per cent.
“This is all being very closely monitored by the Ministry of Economy,” Ms Al Mheiri said in an interview with The National, when asked about the inflation rate.
When it comes to a point where the traders are really, really suffering, there is a mechanism in place ... where we discuss what would be acceptable to raise up as a price point
Mariam Al Mheiri
“The prices of most foods are capped here in the UAE. So there is a close control on it.”
World food prices hit a record high in February, led by a surge in vegetable oils and dairy products, amounting to a 20.7 per cent increase year-on-year, the UN's food agency said last month.
Rises are linked to a broader surge in inflation as countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, higher oil prices affecting shipping, and rising tension in the Black Sea even before the invasion of Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has led to a huge increase in the global price of wheat, affecting the Middle East and Africa in particular.
Ms Al Mheiri said supermarkets and suppliers were expected to shoulder increases in price to a point, before requesting rises if there is a case to do so.
“When it comes to a point where the traders are really, really suffering, there is a mechanism in place … where we discuss what would be acceptable to raise up as a price point.
“This is done in close collaboration with the private sector, but for now things are OK.”
If that changes, the community would receive advance notice of any changes to the caps, she said.
“If there would be something going up [in price] there would be an early warning to the community to let them know this is coming up.”
Harnessing technology to cut imports
The UAE recently announced the launch of the second run of the FoodTech Challenge, which is aimed at early stage start-ups, and will offer a prize pool of $2 million and a high-profile platform to turn ideas into reality.
FoodTech Challenge 2.0 has a dual focus on food production and food loss and waste, which are both important issues for the country.
“The UAE has a lot of its own challenges. We have less than 5 per cent arable land,” she said.
“We are a water-scarce country and therefore growing large open fields and traditional farms made no sense.”
The country is also one of the world’s largest per capita generators of food loss and food waste, she said.
A way to address those issues is to harness the power of innovation and technology.
“This is the whole idea with FoodTech Challenge,” she said.
The competition has issued a call to early-stage start-ups and entrepreneurs to produce solutions that can address the UAE’s food security challenges.
“FoodTech Challenge is, in a way, the UAE really taking a serious step in working with the global community and finding solutions to food systems in the UAE, but also to use these systems later on when we can scale them up and see they are commercially viable, to help other countries that face challenges we have as well,” she said.
She said the UAE has worked hard to diversify its food sources in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.
“Our message to the community is our supply chains are doing well. We are keeping a close eye on them,” the minister said.
“We have the Emirates Food Security Council, which I head, where we meet regularly to ensure the supply chains are looked over.
“We are in close co-ordination with the farms the UAE owns outside the UAE. So all these mechanisms that have been put into activation through Covid have really helped us now also going through these global conflicts that are happening.”
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday Sassuolo v Torino (Kick-off 10.45pm UAE)
Saturday Atalanta v Sampdoria (5pm),
Genoa v Inter Milan (8pm),
Lazio v Bologna (10.45pm)
Sunday Cagliari v Crotone (3.30pm)
Benevento v Napoli (6pm)
Parma v Spezia (6pm)
Fiorentina v Udinese (9pm)
Juventus v Hellas Verona (11.45pm)
Monday AC Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
MATCH INFO
Scotland 59 (Tries: Hastings (2), G Horne (3), Turner, Seymour, Barclay, Kinghorn, McInally; Cons: Hastings 8)
Russia 0
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
CABINET%20OF%20CURIOSITIES%20EPISODE%201%3A%20LOT%2036
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGuillermo%20del%20Toro%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tim%20Blake%20Nelson%2C%20Sebastian%20Roche%2C%20Elpidia%20Carrillo%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
