UAE: Trade between UAE and Sri Lanka is on the rise and there is also a growing demand for tea, Sri Lankan’s Ambassador in United Arab Emirates A. M. Junaid said.
UAE continues to be second best market for Sri Lankan tea after Russia according to export figures last year.
UAE has increased their tea imports by 4.6 million kg last year. The tea exports from Sri Lanka to UAE grew from 33 to 41 million kg in 2005 and this trend continued. The overall value of Sri Lankan tea exports reached a highest ever Rs. 84 billion with Russia and CIS countries being the Lanka’s highest buyers.
Syria with 28 mn kg, Iran 24 mn kg, Turkey 12 mn kg, Iraq 11 mn kg and Japan 10 mn kg were the other major markets last year.
He said that Sri Lankan companies are now moving away from sending tea in bulk form. “More and more Sri Lankans are now into value addition mostly by way of tea bags,” he said.
Another reason for Sri Lankan tea to be popular is the fact that there are over 90,000 housemaids in UAE through whom Lankan tea is consumed in their homes.
Since Dubai Port is one of the largest in Asia it is the gateway to many countries like Iran, which consumes bulk of Sri Lankan tea.
However Lankan tea is facing stiff competition from both Indian and Kenyan tea, as their prices are lower than the Lankan tea.
The Ambassador said in addition there is a growing demand for Lankan apparels. The large super market and department stores too are now selling Lankan apparels. Lankan garments are specially made for the high-end market and this is encouraging.
One of the other advantages is that there is a large expatriate European community who earn more and they are also prefer buying Lankan apparels.
The unprecedented economic transformation, which has taken place in the UAE in recent times, has been largely funded by the judicious use of oil revenues. UAE possesses the third largest natural gas reserves in the region and the fourth largest in the world.
Another emerging market for Sri Lanka is in the gem and jewellery sector.
The officials from the National Gem and Jewellery Authority also displayed their products at the four-day Arabian Travel Market last week. “We had a very good response as we have understood the market in Dubai. We will now follow this up,” an official of the Authority said.
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