Although Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s major date producers, the Kingdom’s share in the world market remains very limited.
The Kingdom accounts for 19 percent of worldwide production, yet our dates find their way to very few world markets and to those only in limited quantities. Traditionally, dates have played a significant role in Saudi life; they serve as the population’s basic nourishment for a long time. Dates contain large amounts of sugar, mineral salts and a number of rare elements which the human body needs.
It is sad to note that despite our huge annual production, much is wasted for lack of outside markets and the inability of the domestic market to absorb the output. One major challenge facing producers is the strong competition from other producing and manufacturing countries.
It is true, the date industry and its derivatives may be new in the world, but advanced techniques have been developed over the past years that should spur the Kingdom to work seriously and develop and sustain exports that allow our dates to compete internationally.
Several such recommendations were made in the past by the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce.
The recommendations called on the Saudi Standard Organization and other bodies to initiate contacts with their counterparts in other countries to coordinate in areas such as the specifications governing the imports of dates and marketing techniques.
Efforts aimed at opening marketing channels abroad should focus on the European, Asian and Arab regions and benefit from bilateral trade agreements between the Kingdom and those countries. Saudi dates are of high quality — compared to those produced by other countries — and their quality has led to rising demand for them.
International marketing opportunities are still available for Saudi dates if proper manufacturing and marketing techniques were adopted.
Dates are considered a strategic commodity and an important source of energy. They can thus be converted through industrialization into many products with a high economic value.
It is unfortunate that despite the strategic importance of dates, this national wealth, unlike other agricultural products, is yet to attract investors from the private sector. Our approach to developing date production and industrialization must match the procedures adopted by other producing and exporting countries.
Another area that we need to focus on is active participation in the specialized international food exhibitions.
This would allow our traders to deal with experienced agents and access new markets in order to gain optimum distribution.
