Riyadh - A delegation from the National Center for Palms and Dates visited Alibaba Group Holding's headquarters in China, aiming to establish a partnership enabling 23 Saudi date companies to utilize Alibaba’s e-commerce platform to market Saudi dates in international markets.
In the course of the visit, a forum showcased companies from Saudi Arabia and China, and discussion were held to boost trade exchanges. Moreover, agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed to bolster Saudi date exports.
The working visit is part of the collaboration between Saudi date companies and the Alibaba Group, following the agreement signed in Riyadh last December.
Notably, there was a remarkable 120% increase in Saudi's date exports to China over the past year.
The Kingdom exported dates worth SAR 644 million in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 13.7% rise compared to the corresponding period last year, when exports amounted to SAR566 million.
Saudi Arabia exports dates to numerous countries; in some, like Austria, Norway, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Germany, and Canada, exports grow by over 100%. Exports grew by 69% to Morocco, 61% to Indonesia, 41% to South Korea, 33% to UK, 29% to US, and 16% to Malaysia.
Saudi Arabia has over 36 million palm trees and an annual date production exceeding 1.6 million tons, which secures it the top rank in date exports.
The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture seeks to improve the quality of farm products by applying good agricultural practices and adopting quality standards in factories.
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