Dubai, Jan 24, 2006 (WAM) - Ahead of the Global Dubai Tea Forumon February 27-28, 2006, Tejari, the Middle East's online marketplace,today announced a new partnership with the Dubai Tea TradingCenter (DTTC) to support tea trading.
Under terms of the agreement, Tejari will develop an onlinetrading platform to facilitate the international commercial activitiesof the Dubai Tea Trading Centre (DTTC), a subsidiary companyof Dubai Metal and Commodities Center (DMCC). Delegates at theforthcoming Global Tea Forum will get the first look at the prototypeof the new Tejari-based tea trading online forum.
This international tea trading enterprise - which will eventuallyinclude a centrally located warehouse through which tea of variousorigins will pass - will utilize Tejari to enhance its regionaland global reach, opening up new markets and affirming Dubai'sgrowing status as an international centre of trade, according to a press release.
"Tejari has gained in-depth expertise in growing and maintainingregional online trading portals. The tea trade portal will provideDTTC with a user friendly internet-based trading platform toall tea related organizations to showcase their products andservices, create trade leads to buy and sell, identify new partnersin different countries and to use the messaging capability tocommunicate with other companies" said Omar Hijazi, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Tejari.
"The creation of initiatives such as the DTTC tea trade portalis likely to increase the value and volume of tea traded in andthrough Dubai significantly," he added.
"This partnership with Tejari will highlight our tea storage,blending and trading capabilities to an international audience,"said Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chief Operating Officer, DMCC "Giventhat restrictions on a number of regional tea markets participatingin international trade are likely to be lifted over the nextfew years, our agreement with Tejari is significant in providingDubai with an early opportunity to substantially strengthen itsrole as a focal point for all future commercial activity in thetea sector," he concluded.
The Middle East and adjacent regions account for approximately25% of global tea imports and according to industry insiders.
DTTC plans have already won the enthusiastic support of teamanufacturing participants from three of the world's leadingtea exporters - India, Sri Lanka and East Africa.
The Tejari-enabled DTTC portal, which will only be accessibleto its members, will facilitate the round-the-clock cataloguing,sample requesting, and purchasing of tea stocks, putting thebuyer in direct contact with the plantation broker / trader andtherefore allowing for a greater degree of transparency.
