DAMMAM — The International Dates Council held the technical and founding meeting in Al-Ahsa on Wednesday. The meeting was held in the presence of agriculture ministers from several countries and representatives of a number of dates producers and importers worldwide as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, the Arab Center for Studies of Dry Areas and Arid Lands (ACSAD), and the National Center for Palms and Dates. It was announced during the meeting that the headquarters of the council will be in Saudi Arabia and the election of Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadley as the chairman of the council. The meeting approved the council's strategy and work plan. The meeting demonstrated the council's strategy, activities for 2022, technical issues, and cooperative work. In addition, activities that require collective action against the obstacles the sector face, and raise capabilities to achieve sustainable development of dates at the global level. Saudi Arabia is home of the finest types of dates globally, and it is the second largest dates producer in the world with an annual production of about one and a half million tons. The Kingdom is among the forefront of countries exporting dates to global markets, and the value of its exports in 2020 amounted to about $250 million. It also ranked third in the world in terms of the value of dates exports. The International Dates Council currently includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Palestine, Somalia, Oman, Yemen, Mauritania, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunisia and Bahrain. Jordan, Tunisia and Libya have agreed to join the council.
