Ministry of Finance: Raw Gum Arabic is exported at $3,000, resold at $17,000
The Undersecretary of Economic Planning at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Muhammad Bashar has revealed that a ton of the exported gum Arabic raw material is sold for $3,000 and then the importer, the last manufacturer, sells it for $17,000, although it has nothing to do with its production.
He said that Sudan is suffering a big gap in food manufacturing, stressing that the workshop must address this issue and seek to find important partnerships in order to add value to the produced commodities and export them as manufactured materials ready for the consumer, not as raw materials.
Bashar affirmed that Sudan has been classified as one of the four largest countries in the world, providing it with opportunities to provide food security for the region and the countries of the world as a whole after its citizens are satisfied, a matter that puts Sudan in front of a major challenge, pointing out that the resources and expertise are available, adding that the challenge must help in converting the resources into processed products that can reach the global markets with great benefits.
He said that partnership between the public and private sectors is an important tool for bridging the resource gap, especially after Sudan relied entirely, for the second year, on its own resources.
The Director of the Central Unit for Partnership between the Public and Private Sectors Dr. Ahmed Al-Sharif pointed out to the importance of the partnership workshop for Sudan’s leadership in food security, welcoming the partnership initiatives that come to the central unit from various institutions, the private sector and investors at the local and regional levels.
Dr. Al-Sharif said that the central unit was established in 2015 AD after its law was approved by the Council of Ministers and began to operate within an institutional and legislative framework in accordance with the law. A number of contracts have been signed for vital projects, including the areas of infrastructure that include the Port Sudan-Sinnar-Adre Railway Line, which helps a lot in the development of trade between countries, in addition to the Al-Manara Water Project, explaining that the electronic gate project and important projects such as veterinary quarries and a number of other important projects will be signed in partnership with the bot system.
He pointed to the importance of the bot system for Sudan after the cessation of foreign aid, stressing the need to rely on this type of companies and benefit from the qualitative service of the investing partner, whether it is local or foreign.