Saudi Arabia has ranked first globally in terms of the value of date exports in 2021, which stood at SAR1.215 billion ($320 million), according to the International Trade Center’s TradeMap.
The National Center for Palms and Dates stated that the achievement reflects the wise leadership’s keenness to enhance non-oil exports and develop the work system in planting and improving the palm trees’ production.
The center pointed out that the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 has prepared and implemented programs to develop the palms and dates sector and increase its contribution to the GDP.
Efforts focused on integrating relevant government institutions and the producers and exporters of dates to develop the value chains, improve the quality and quantity of production, facilitate their exportation procedures, increase the efficiency of their marketing, encourage investments, provide necessary data and studies, improve the efficiency of supply chains, and boost the human and institutional capacity.
The value of palms and dates in the Kingdom amounts to nearly SAR7.5 billion ($2 billion), equivalent to 12% of the agricultural gross product and 0.4% of the non-oil gross product.
There are up to 33 million palm trees across Saudi Arabia, representing 27% of the total number of palm trees in the world.
Saudi Arabia has launched international and local initiatives, including the establishment of the National Center for Palms and Dates and the International Dates Council, which includes Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen.
It worked on enhancing the sector by implementing a local marketing and production strategy that comes in line with the global market specifications, empowering leading companies and linking them to potential foreign importers.
