MoIAT, EKTIFA to advance food industry services through AI

The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), in collaboration with the Sharjah Agricultural and Livestock Production Establishment (EKTIFA), held the Interactive Council for Service Development for the Food Industries Sector at Mleiha Wheat Farm in the Emirate of Sharjah.

The council supports the objectives of the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, the Make it in the Emirates initiative, and the UAE government’s direction on the Agentic AI programme.

It brought together multiple investors, factories and companies operating in the sector, alongside representatives from government and private entities in Sharjah.

The council comes in line with the Ministry’s approach to strengthening direct engagement with the industrial sector, listening to customers, and involving them in the design of government services, with a focus on plans to deploy Agentic AI in the services provided - helping to enhance the experience of investors, industrial and service companies, and suppliers, raise service efficiency, and support the growth and competitiveness of vital and priority industries.

The council focused on discussing factories’ needs and solutions related to enhancing the customer experience, and exploring opportunities to develop future services that support the shift toward more proactive, efficient services capable of understanding customer needs and facilitating their journey - as part of the Ministry’s ongoing programme of interactive customer councils across the UAE’s emirates, aimed at strengthening the industrial business environment.

Hasan Jasem Al Nowais, Undersecretary of MoIAT, said, “In line with the Ministry’s strategic objectives and the Make it in the emirates initiative, we are focused on listening to our customers from industrial and service companies, and we are keen to go out into the field and meet them across the UAE’s emirates, to hear their proposals in order to design services that are more efficient and closely aligned with the needs of the industrial sector. We are focusing on plans to deploy Agentic AI and turning direct dialogue with factories into a practical input for developing services and enhancing the customer experience.” He added, “The food industries sector is one of the vital sectors supporting food security and sustainable industrial growth in the UAE. Through our partnership with EKTIFA and companies in the private sector, we discussed opportunities to develop services that help reduce time and effort, simplify procedures, and support factories’ capacity to grow and expand. We continue to develop our services by deploying Agentic AI as a tool to raise efficiency and enhance the industrial investor journey.”

He also commended the role of EKTIFA in providing a direct dialogue platform with companies and factories in the Emirate of Sharjah, and its impact in giving the Ministry’s team the opportunity to understand and listen to customers’ needs and direct them to the appropriate information and procedures - noting that these councils form part of an ongoing national journey to develop government services in partnership with industrial sector companies.

WAM