Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/694455
10 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 3, 2016 (June/July) ubai, the vibrant trading center of the United Arab Emirates, is a modern crossroads linking more than two billion people in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The country was "made for trade" says Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who serves as ex- ecutive chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). In this issue Bin Sulayem shares with STiR his vision of Dubai as the gateway to Africa's green coffee, a bold initiative that parallels the DMCC's remarkable achievements in tea. Since 2005 Dubai has become the largest tea re-exporter in the world handling 41 mil- lion metric tons in 2015. Tea manufacturing facilities there produce billions of teabags and specialty sachets for regional tea companies as well as the largest multinationals. "If we could do it for tea, we can definitely do it for coffee," said Bin Sulayem. The fact that Dubai is a global trading center is a big magnet for commodity businesses, he explains. The UAE's domestic coffee market is about double that of tea and is expected to grow 9% per year. There are 90 in-shop and commercial coffee roasters serving 2,200 coffee shops. "I feel that DMCC has gained enough confidence and trust from the market that people actually believe this will progress into something more than where we are today in the coffee business," he said. Perhaps more critical is the role that UAE could play as the coffee re-export center for Africa. Ethiopia, the continent's largest coffee producer, and one of the finest of the world's arabica growing regions, is notorously lacking in infrastructure. Ethiopia is landlocked, lacks an extensive rail system, and is only now developing a network of trunk roads. In 2015 its largest city opened its first lightrail. It will take time to recover from decades of civil war and regional conflicts that diverted essential funds from construction to destruction. The country has embarked on a very successful effort to establish public access to water, sanitation and roads. A Deloitte report titled Ethiopia: A Growth Miracle documents impres- sive advances in the past decade but estimates that Ethiopia "needs to invest an average of $5.1 billion per year in infrastructure alone for an entire decade in order to overcome existing constraints on development." Coffee is the cornerstone of Ethiopia's exports. Dubai's combination of ports, warehouse capacity, intermodal transport, and logics support for manufacturing operations thrive in sev- eral free trade zones (FTZ) that could transform Africa's ability to bring coffee to the global market. The FTZ in Jebel Ali (Jafza) alone is home to 7,300 companies. Beginning in the mid-1970s Jebel Ali was transformed from desert sand into a flagship among the UAE's 11 seaports; and 6 airports that connect traders with 230 countries. All that is missing is rail, something the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is determined to remedy with a heavy rail system linking all six Gulf states. Imagine applying Jebel Ali's tremendous capability to efficiently and reliably process and deliver coffees grown in Africa. The port demonstrates the importance of soft and hard infra- structure to the socio-economic success of any nation, explains Bin Sulayem. In the modern world, there is a demand for faster, safer, and the most cost effective transport to ensure hinterland access which can be a major inhibitor of economic growth, he explains, especially in developing markets — which describes precisely why Africa should partner with Dubai. Crossroads Publisher/Founding Editor Glenn Anthony John gaj@octobermultimedia.com Managing Editor Dan Bolton dwb@octobermultimedia.com Art Director Somjet Thitasomboon snt@octobermultimedia.com Global Tea Report Jane Pettigrew Global Coffee Report Jenny Neill Contributing Writers Anne-Marie Hardie Sherri Johns (North America) Alf Kramer (Europe) Larry Luxner Sunalini Menon (India) Frank J. Miller Hans J. Niebergall Thomas Schmid Dan Shryock Kelly Stein (South America) Translations (Chinese) Helen Xu Fei Subscriptions Malisa Kongkatitum Sales Director Emerson Leonard edl@octobermultimedia.com Director, October Inter Co., Ltd. Boonthin Tubsongkroh brt@octobermultimedia.com STiR c/o October Inter Co. Ltd. Interchange 21 Bldg., 32nd Fl., Room 3225, 399 Sukhumvit Road, North Klong Toey, Wattana, Bangkok, 10110, Thailand Tel +66 2 660 3789 Fax +66 2 660 3881 www.stir-tea-coffee.com Published by: A Member of: D From the Editor © 2016 October Multimedia Co. Ltd., STiR Tea & Coffee Industry International is published bi-monthly in February, April, June, August, October, and December by October Multimedia Co. Ltd. Printing and distribution overseen by October Inter Co., Ltd., Interchange 21 Bldg. Fl 32, Rm 3225, 399 Sukhumvit Road, North Klong Toey, Wattana, Bangkok, 10110 THAILAND. Tel +66 2 660 3789. E-mail: info@octobermultimedia.com www.octobermultimedia.com. All rights reserved. By-lined or initialed articles represent the opinion of the author. All articles published in STIR Coffee and Tea or www.stir-tea-coffee.com are copyrighted. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission.