NEOM signs deal to help revolutionize sustainable food

NEOM signs deal to help revolutionize sustainable food
From left to right: Chef Norbert Niederkofler, Juan Carlos Motamayor, Saudi Chef Nihal Felemban, Neom's Senior Communications Manager Tarek ElMoukachar (moderator). (AN Photo by Nada Alturki)
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Updated 08 March 2023

NEOM signs deal to help revolutionize sustainable food

NEOM signs deal to help revolutionize sustainable food
  • The partnership aims to increase the percentage of locally-sourced food supplies, create awareness around food production methods in NEOM

BRUNECK: As land loss and soil erosion have threatened harvests across the globe for decades, Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of reshaping sustainable food culture for generations to come. 

The NEOM smart city has announced a partnership with CARE’s, an organization committed to promoting ethical and sustainable food, during an event hosted in Bruneck’s AlpiNN Food Space & Restaurant in Italy. 

The partnership will create a manifesto describing the principles of food security, innovative gastronomy, sustainable cooking and farming methods, and ethical supply.

The two key sustainability requirements relate to water use and soil conservation, and more will be determined as the partnership develops, the organizations said. 

Juan Carlos Motamayor, executive director of NEOM’s food sector, told Arab News: “We have this focus on producing as much food as is economically efficient and pioneer in ways of becoming more self-sufficient when it comes to food. 

“We (launched) the CARE’s partnerships to help us train chefs and professionals in the culinary industry, which will allow us to promote the consumption of locally-sourced food.”

The partnership aims to increase the percentage of locally-sourced food supplies, create awareness around food production methods in NEOM, establish quality training programs for Saudi chefs and achieve a Michelin star, or potentially a green star, restaurant in the upcoming years.  

The training will also involve providing feedback to producers at NEOM city on how to elevate food production to align with the standards of the Kingdom’s advancing high-end cuisine industry.

Saudi Arabia is among the world’s biggest importers of fruits and vegetables. However, NEOM said that innovation and the use of local land to create a self-sufficient industry could revolutionize agriculture. 

“NEOM is about diversifying the economy of the Kingdom through developing industries that tackle the greatest challenges that we’re facing,” Motamayor said. 

“One of them is climate change, which impacts food production, and food production impacts climate change. 

“To make food production and consumption more sustainable, we have to focus on demonstrating the value of technologies that are available at smaller scales, not necessarily at large commercial scales.”

He said that by demonstrating water efficiency and the ability to grow crops in high temperatures and drought, the model could potentially be implemented in countries across the globe, diminishing the effects of climate change as a potential result.

“Other regions in the world can use the technology and know-how we would like to support, not only from the NEOM region to the Kingdom, but beyond,” Motamayor said.

In partnership with CARE’s, NEOM will align the right expertise with the technologies needed to push the culinary industry forward. 

Motamayor said: “There are multiple chef organizations with multiple stars, but CARE’s is the only organization in the world that has developed and promoted this 'Cook the Mountain' concept. It’s a concept where they tackle sustainability from multiple angles, but one of the key angles is the promotion of locally-sourced food. 

“With the opportunity to have chefs like Norbert (Niederkofler) creating unique culinary offerings with Saudi chefs, we can bring attention to the benefits of having fresh food and having higher flavor and higher nutritional content.

The CARE’s program was originally conceived by chef Norbert Niederkofler of the St. Hubertus restaurant in San Cassiano and Paolo Ferretti, a business owner from Bolzano. 

Cook the Mountain champions the restructuring of economic-social development by exploring the relationships between production, product, territory and consumption.

Norbert works with farmers, breeders, local producers, territory artisans, and chefs, taking on the role of an emotional educator promoting the idea of respecting nature and a region’s landscape. 

“The next part of sustainability is the producers, farmers, growers, forages, to implement people like this in the whole process… With Cook the  Mountain, we realized how important the local people are, especially because they know the soil, they know the land, they know what they can do with nature,” Niederkofler told Arab News. 

The overall impact of the initiative also reduces food transportation carbon emissions, which creates around a third of the missions of the whole food industry. 

While the initiative is able to be maintained for small restaurants such as AlpiNN, home to Cook the Mountain, it has yet to be implemented on a larger scale.

The partnership hopes to produce an actionable system in which millions of people can live a self-sufficient life, including NEOM’s The Line project which is projected to sustain nearly nine million residents by 2045.

“This is what we have to take responsibility: to put all the knowledge that we built up in the last years from our side, work together with scientists and see what kind of solutions we can find for the future,” Niederkofler said.  

It is predicted that the worldwide arable lands only have 30 harvests remaining until complete depletion, Motamayor said, and the Global Soil Partnership reported that 75 billion tons of soil is eroded every year. 

Through the right training on respectful food sourcing, ethical supply, and a focus on workers’ welfare, chef Norbert believes that Saudi talents have the potential to pave the way globally for an alternative urban living system. 

He said: “When you respect nature around you, you can get three (Michelin) stars, even with a green star — because we showed it and it was done. This means that you maintain the culture of a country and imitate the traditions of a country. 

“The most important thing for the future is the roots. When you maintain this and in this way, as a young chef from Saudi, they have the chance to go up to the top.”


Saudi authorities seize drugs worth more than $4.7m

Saudi authorities seize drugs worth more than $4.7m
Updated 09 June 2023

Saudi authorities seize drugs worth more than $4.7m

Saudi authorities seize drugs worth more than $4.7m
  • Bids to smuggle Captagon pills through Haditha port foiled
  • Two arrests made following coordination between ZATCA and the General Directorate for Narcotics Control

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has foiled two separate attempts to smuggle hundreds of thousands of Captagon pills through Haditha port.
The Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday that ZATCA foiled an attempt to smuggle 365,166 Captagon pills hidden in a truck coming through the port, as well as discovering another 101,160 pills hidden in a different vehicle.
The seized drugs had an estimated street value ranging from $4.5 million to $11.25 million according to the International Journal of Addiction Research, which said users pay between $10 and $25 per pill.
Two people were arrested following coordination between ZATCA and the General Directorate for Narcotics Control. A statement from ZATCA said that the authority “spares no effort to tighten its grip over the Kingdom’s imports and exports.”
ZATCA further warned that it would be “extra vigilant” against smugglers to realize its goal of “strengthening security and protecting society against any harm caused by drugs and other contraband.”
Members of the public can report suspected smuggling or other violations of the customs system in strict confidence via email — [email protected] — or through the designated number for security reports: 1910 from within the country, +966114208417 from overseas. A financial reward is offered if the information leads to discovery of a crime.
 


Green Riyadh reaches its fifth station, Qurtubah neighborhood

Green Riyadh reaches its fifth station, Qurtubah neighborhood
Updated 09 June 2023

Green Riyadh reaches its fifth station, Qurtubah neighborhood

Green Riyadh reaches its fifth station, Qurtubah neighborhood

Riyadh: Urban greening works began in the Qurtubah neighborhood of Riyadh on Thursday, a continuation of a tree planting initiative in the city’s residential neighborhoods within the framework of the Green Riyadh project.

The work in the Qurtubah neighborhood includes planting trees and shrubs and establishing parks and green areas.

The program aims to plant more than 92,000 trees and shrubs in the neighborhood and build 34 gardens. Trees will be planted in the surrounding areas of four schools, 56 mosques, nine parking lots, eight governmental facilities, and along 44 km of roads and streets in Qurtubah.

The types of trees and shrubs to be planted include acacia gerrardii, acacia pruinocarpa, acacia salicina, acacia tortilis spirocarpa, and balanites aegyptiaca, all of which are heat-tolerant and suitable for the Kingdom’s summer climate.

Details of the urban greening works were announced during an interactive event held in Qurtubah, where visitors had the chance to familiarize themselves with the project’s various phases and see what the neighborhood will look like once it is complete.

The exhibition showcasing details of the greening project in Qurtubah is open for one week and includes a space for children to learn about the importance of planting trees and the role they can play in community tree-planting events across the city.

The urban greening works in Qurtubah have wide-ranging environmental, social and economic impacts, reducing temperatures and protecting biological diversity, improving the well-being of the neighborhood’s residents, increasing the global attractiveness of Riyadh, and reducing annual power consumption by 650 GW per hour.

Next on the list of Green Riyadh projects are the neighborhoods of Al-Ghadeer and Al-Nakhil. Contracts have already been signed for the implementation of greening projects in these neighborhoods.

The Green Riyadh program is one of Riyadh’s four megaprojects launched by the Saudi leadership in 2019, contributing to achieving the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative and the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Green Riyadh aims to plant over 7.5 million trees in the city of Riyadh, raise the vegetation cover’s proportion to 9.1 percent of the city’s area, and increase the share of green space per individual from 1.7 square meters to 28 square meters per capita, which is 16 times higher than the current share.


Saudi Armed Forces, GCC, US troops conclude military exercises

Saudi Armed Forces, GCC, US troops conclude military exercises
Updated 09 June 2023

Saudi Armed Forces, GCC, US troops conclude military exercises

Saudi Armed Forces, GCC, US troops conclude military exercises
  • ‘Eagle Resolve 23’ drill held to raise combat readiness
  • 8-month project included air, sea, land, cyber operations

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Armed Forces have concluded military exercises with GCC countries and the US, the Kingdom’s Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.

The “Eagle Resolve 23” drill, which was launched at the Air Warfare Center in the Eastern Province, aimed to raise combat efficiency, achieve operational readiness, and exchange expertise on planning and implementation at all levels.

It was held to demonstrate the depth of strategic and military relations with the GCC countries and the US, the ministry said in a statement.

Over the course of two weeks, the countries participated in various exercises including air and missile combat with live ammunition, defensive counter-air operations, air-to-air refueling, surface-to-naval warfare, electronic warfare, naval incursions, defense against weapons of mass destruction and handling mass casualties.

The closing ceremony was attended by Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili, the chiefs of staff of the participating countries, Commander of the Saudi Air Force Lt. Gen. Turki bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, and a number of senior officers of the Saudi Armed Forces.

Maj. Gen. Fahad bin Hamad Al-Salman, the exercise director, said the drill and its various scenarios took place over more than eight months, during which several conferences and seminars were held in the Kingdom and the US.

The chiefs of staff were briefed on the working groups involved, and attended a “Senior Leaders” symposium, during which issues of common interest were discussed.

As part of the symposium’s activities, the Commander of the Naval Forces at the US Central Command Lt. Gen. Brad Cooper, gave a lecture entitled “Partnerships and Innovation,” while the Saudi side presented two lectures entitled “Air Defense in Joint Operations” and “Information Operations.”


Princess Sara, wife of Saudi crown prince, sponsors Alnahda charity ceremony

Princess Sara, wife of Saudi crown prince, sponsors Alnahda charity ceremony
Updated 09 June 2023

Princess Sara, wife of Saudi crown prince, sponsors Alnahda charity ceremony

Princess Sara, wife of Saudi crown prince, sponsors Alnahda charity ceremony

RIYADH: Princess Sara bint Mashhour, the wife of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sponsored the ceremony of Alnahda Society held in Diriyah, Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

The non-profit organization was founded in 1962 to empower Saudi women socially and economically through financial assistance, training and job skill development.

The patronage of Princess Sara is an extension of her efforts to empower others, especially the youth, women and those with disabilities, by enabling them to become active members of society.

The entire proceeds of the ceremony will go toward the organization’s vocational rehabilitation program, which includes academic support and workshops to help people develop personal and social skills. 

During her speech at the ceremony, Princess Moudi bint Khalid bin Abdulaziz, chairwoman of Al-Nahdha, expressed her appreciation to Princess Sara for her charitable work, her passion for social development and the non-profit sector, and her support of youth empowerment projects. 


Solomon Islands PM discusses climate change with Saudi envoy

Solomon Islands PM discusses climate change with Saudi envoy
Updated 09 June 2023

Solomon Islands PM discusses climate change with Saudi envoy

Solomon Islands PM discusses climate change with Saudi envoy

RIYADH: Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare received Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Climate Affairs Envoy Adel Al-Jubeir in the capital, Riyadh, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

During the reception, Al-Jubeir conveyed greetings from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and wishes to the government and people of the Solomon Islands for continued stability, progress and prosperity.
 
They reviewed bilateral relations and ways to develop them in various fields, and the Kingdom’s efforts and initiatives to preserve the environment and limit climate change. 

A number of regional and international issues and developments of common concern were also discussed.

Al-Jubeir met with the Cypriot Foreign Minister Dr. Constantinos Kombos, where they reviewed relations between the two countries, and ways to enhance and develop them in various fields, including the environment and limiting the effects of climate change.

He also held separate talks with Emanuela Claudia Del Re, the EU special representative for the Sahel, to discuss cooperation, and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, Waleed Al-Khuraiji, held talks with British Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the UN Lord Tariq Ahmad on the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh in Riyadh.

Al-Khuraiji also met Tobias Lindner, minister of state at the German Foreign Office.