Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Eng. Ahmed S. AlAiadh, said that the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has completed the procedures required for export of Saudi Arabia's dates to Australia.
Speaking after a meeting with a delegation from the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, AlAiadh confirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has completed all procedures that need to be taken before exporting local dates, including plant health checks, as well as transport and storage procedures.
As Australian market is one of the major world markets, the Ministry intends to launch Saudi dates exhibition in Australia in the third quarter of 2020, AlAiadh said.
AlAiadh said that Saudi Arabia is in face of global competition with 19 exporting countries, as dates imports in Australia totaled more than 8000 tons, which amounted to about SAR 450 million in 2018, according to statistics. Due to the high quality of Saudi dates, Saudi Arabia can be the world's top dates exporter, he added.