Over 25,000 Saudi families will launch their homemade products here today at the start of the second National Families Exhibition and Forum.

"Made in Saudi Arabia" has been organized by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) under the aegis of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal.

The three-day event includes the participation of officials, businesspeople and professionals from the public and private sectors, who will discuss the importance of locally produced goods for economic growth.

JCCI President Saleh Kamel thanked Prince Khaled for supporting Saudi families and increasing the status of Jeddah as an important center for economic events. Kamel said the event would help the Saudi economy grow and "promote prosperity."

Ahmed Al-Hamdan, director of the Jeddah Center for Social Responsibility, who is also responsible for the productive families support program, said the event will help the authorities fine-tune its local manufacturing initiatives.

“Creating more opportunities and undertaking initiatives for the future of productive families, would contribute to sustainable national development. We are all producers. We have to take initiatives to help our products and create a made-in-Saudi Arabia market,” said Hamdan.

He said the forum will be a platform for discussion on how leading Saudi companies can support such efforts. Topics to be discussed include the role of the public sector and partnership strategies for productive families.

The forum will also discuss classification and quality control to create competitive products and goods in the local market, management configurations for productive families in provinces and supporting the private sector in incubating productive families.