Over 5,000 animal breeders expected to attend inaugural EuroTier Middle East in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

Europe’s biggest livestock fair will be coming to Abu Dhabi next week with the inaugural EuroTier Middle East, with over 150 companies from 18 countries set to take part alongside 5,000 animal breeders, its organisers said on Wednesday.

Taking place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from September 2-4, the event will feature some of the latest technologies and products mainly aimed at livestock breeders here in the UAE and the region, with a series of deals expected to be announced during the three-day event by both private and government entities — key among them the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADASFA), the main organiser behind bringing the event to the UAE.

Other highlights will include animal breeding contests and live auctions of 1,300 local and foreign breeds of sheep and goats.

“We had many reasons to attract this high-calibre global event to Abu Dhabi due to its important role in enriching the knowledge, building the capacity and enhancing the skills of local animal breeders by bringing them closer to international best practices and latest techniques,” said Saeed Al Bahri Salem Al Ameri, director-general of ADASFA.

“This will help advance the local livestock sector through promoting modern breeding processes and improving local production in line with our continued focus on the development of this vital sector,” he added.

Al Ameri said the livestock and animal production market could play a strong economic benefit for the UAE, which is why several investments have been made to improve the industry’s efficiency.

“The animal production sector in the UAE enjoys multiple advantages that could make it a key driver of sustainable economic growth and a major contributor to the GDP.

“The country has made significant progress towards achieving this goal through creating a favourable investment environment for industries based on animal production, adopting modern breeding techniques, launching awareness initiatives and expending efforts to preserve its farming heritage for future generations,” he added.

Al Ameri also said the event fell in line with the UAE’s food security agenda.

“The UAE and Abu Dhabi government has made food security, agricultural sustainability and biosecurity and food safety as one of our main goals. To achieve all of these things we need to increase the return on the investments that have been put in by the government and the livestock breeders.

“Today, we can only achieve that by introducing the latest technologies in the industry so that the sector is enabled by these technologies,” he added.

“The latest technologies, practices, equipment and products will enhance and increase productivity [while also] reducing costs. This will obviously increase the [livestock breeder’s] return on the investment,” he said.

Abu Dhabi livestock numbers under Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority

• Total number of animal holdings: 24,189
• Livestock census: 3.6 million head of cattle
• Total fodder quantities distributed to breeders annually: 1.3 million tonnes