BURAIDAH, 7 September 2003 — Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, will attend an international conference on date palms at King Khaled Cultural Center here on Sept. 16.
Scientists and specialists in date palm planting and date production and processing have been invited to take part in the four-day event on the sidelines of a date festival. The conference is organized by King Saud University, represented by its college of agriculture and veterinary medicine, in collaboration with the Qassim Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“There hasn’t been enough study of ways of improving the product of date palms and maximize economic benefit from them,” said Dr. Sulaiman Al-Yahya, dean of the college.
“The conference will be a forum for exchange of experience and knowledge about the latest developments and scientific achievements in the field, and it will focus particularly on improving production, marketing and processing of dates,” he added.
Abdulrahman Al-Salamah, the director general of the Qassim International Exhibition Company (QIECO), told Arab News the exhibition was a great opportunity for date producers in Qassim to display their dates and dates-related products.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Foreign Ministry is studying legal options available against Israeli exporters who used the logo “Saudi Product” to promote Israeli dates in European markets, Okaz newspaper reported yesterday.
A source from Ministry of Agriculture revealed that the Israeli traders used the Saudi logo because of its quality dates well known in the international market, the paper said.
Abdulaziz Al-Tuwaijri, chairman of the date producers and exporters committee at the Qassim Chamber of Commerce and Industry, voiced his concerns over this report. “It is dangerous if it is true,” he told Arab News yesterday.
However, he doubted the possibility of using the Saudi logo in Israeli dates, saying that it will add a financial burden to Israeli exporters. “The Israeli products enter the European markets very easily and without any cost,” Al-Tuwaijri said.
Last year, Saudi farmers criticized some Arab countries — including Egypt and Jordan — for importing Israeli dates in place of their products.
Israel exported dates last year to a number of Arab and Gulf countries, which include the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
“There were unconfirmed reports that Israeli dates had even entered the Saudi market in the name of a Jordanian product,” Al-Tuwaijri said yesterday.
“Despite the small quantity of its production, Israel is posing stiff competition to Saudi dates,” he added, estimating Israel’s dates output at 12,000 tons.
Saudi Arabia produces 850,000 tons of dates annually.
