MADINAH, 3 May — Madinah Governor Prince Muqrin has announced the founding of a cooperative society for the Kingdom’s date producers and manufacturers with an initial capitalization of SR 1 million. The society aims to promote date industry and market its products both locally and internationally. It will also address overcoming the difficulties facing the industry and the obstacles created by various economic trading blocs.
Prince Muqrin was speaking at the opening of a conference of date producers and manufacturers here on Tuesday. The Labor Ministry’s directive to support the society’s founding was also announced at the meeting.
Awad Al-Radadi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs urged the participants to utilize the society’s facilities to the full. Prince Muqrin said the society will help preserve date’s heritage in the Kingdom and urged date processors to put the procedures in place to support this vital economic sector. The prince also hoped that the society would produce the best solutions for the problems faced in date farming and processing. He noted the developments already achieved in date farming, saying that the Kingdom has become the largest producer of dates thanks to the unlimited support extended by the Kingdom’s rulers.
Saudi dates will have an opportunity to dominate in most world markets when the Kingdom joins the World Trade Organization, said Abdullah Al-Zaid, chairman of the board of directors of the Taiba for Agricultural Development Company. He stressed the need for increased efforts to make the products more competitive.
“The private sector should stand side by side with the government sectors to counter the efforts of numerous industrial and economic blocs which force their way in the international market and which will enter our markets when we join the WTO,” Al-Zaid said.
“If we don’t combine our individual efforts, we will be lost in the midst of the currents of powerful economic blocs where the stronger destroy the weak,” he warned.
