Saudi Arabia has launched investments worth $6.4 billion in future technologies, the Saudi minister of communication and information technology said on Tuesday, as the kingdom races to diversify its economy from oil in the face of fierce regional competition.

Wealthy Gulf countries have launched initiatives to boost non-oil growth and reduce dependence on crude oil as climate change campaigners and volatility in oil prices have put pressure on government finances.

The kingdom has already announced it is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into an economic transformation, known as Vision 2030, led by its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

The investments announced on Tuesday include a $2 billion joint venture between eWTP Arabia Capital, a fund backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Alibaba, and China's J&T Express Group, minister Abdullah Alswaha said.

Saudi oil giant Aramco will inject, via its fund Prosperity7 Ventures, $1 billion to help entrepreneurs across the globe build transformative start-ups, while Saudi Telecom Co (STC) 7010.SE will invest $1 billion in the infrastructure of submarine cables and data centres, he said.

"Right now, the tech and digital market in the kingdom is around $40 billion which is the largest by far in the region. We're very proud of the growth that we have seen in the region, specifically in areas around e-commerce, gaming, digital content and cloud," Alswaha said in a interview with Reuters.

The minister, who was speaking on the margins of LEAP, an international technology platform taking place in Riyadh, said Armaco Prosperity7's initiative will focus on green technologies while logistics company J&T Express Group's joint venture will build a smart hub for the region that will improve efficiency by up to 100%.

Alswaha said NEOM, a futuristic megacity that the crown prince is building on the Red Sea coast, has launched $1 billion of investments in a metaverse to serve the city's residents and visitors, in addition to another platform that would help users to take control of their personal data.

"We project over the next eight years, a minimum of another 100,000 to 250,000 jobs, which will effectively mean doubling the number of coders that we have today, in some cases will triple (the number)," he said.

The government also expects $1.4 billion to be spent in entrepreneurship and allocated to funds to support digital content, including an initiative known as The Garage, a space in the capital Riyadh that will host start-ups specialised in new technologies.

"All the numbers ... are vetted and validated by third parties. Again, we are not in the business of any showmanship, we're in the business of committing and delivering," the minister said.

Source: zawya

Vision 2030, government spending to drive non-oil sector growth, says Jadwa Investment.

Saudi Arabia's economy is set to grow by 7 percent year-on-year in 2022 due result of significantly higher oil sector growth and robust levels of non-oil growth, Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment said.

The strong level of growth of this year is expected to continue into next year, the investment bank said in a report on Tuesday.

International Monetary Fund said in July the kingdom is expected to grow 2.4 per cent this year and 4.8 per cent in 2022.

According to Jadwa, within the oil sector, growth will be driven by higher Saudi crude oil production, in-line with yearly rises in global oil demand.

"We note that circa 40 percent of OPEC+’s spare capacity resides with Saudi Arabia, and thus any uplift in demand will likely be met with proportionally higher oil supply from the Kingdom."

In terms of the non-oil sector, despite a moderation in year-on-year growth the economy will be driven forward by the continued implementation of the Vision 2030, Jadwa said.

According to a finance ministry report, Saudi Arabia’s oil sector revenue grew 60 percent year-on year in Q3-2021 to nearly 148 billion riyals while non-oil revenue in Q3 contracted 22 percent year-on-year to 95.4 billion riyals.

Jadwa said the Saudi economy will be supported by another sizable outlay in government expenditure, which, despite declining on a yearly basis in 2022, is still set to total just under 1 trillion riyals. “Overall, we expect the Kingdom’s non-oil private sector to grow by 3.2 percent in full year 2022.”

Additionally, both the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the National Development Fund (NDF) will be the engines of capital deployment and economic development in the Kingdom, as detailed in the recently unveiled National Investment Strategy (NIS).

Jadwa said the main risk to its forecast is related to the disruptive nature of Covid-19, or, more specifically, to global developments related to the ‘Omicron’ variant seen in the last few days.

“As it stands, it is too early to gauge the full impact of the variant on the Saudi economy, especially so without knowing to what extent, if any, the variant poses a threat to the current crop of Covid-19 vaccines' effectiveness."

source: zawya

Translation By: Fairouz Alnajem

Cura Saudi Arabia, the leading telemedicine consultancy, has succeeded in raising $4 million (about 15 million Saudi Riyals) in its Series A funding round. The first funding round was led by Wa'ed (the entrepreneurial arm of Saudi Aramco) and ELM. In the following lines, we will learn about the journey of the rise of Saudi Cura and the services it provides.

Birth of the idea of Cura

The idea of establishing Cura was born as a result of a situation experienced by one of its founders, Wael Kabli, a former Microsoft engineer, when he noticed his daughter one night showing signs of tiredness and sickness, and tried to contact a doctor, but the latter told him that the best thing to do was to take an appointment to see his daughter in The next morning, and he did, and the result was that the doctor gave Wael and his wife simple steps to take care of their daughter from home, then Wael thought that it was unreasonable that there was no way to obtain medical advice in critical cases in which it was impossible to reach a doctor, hence the idea of   establishing Cura company by Wael Kabli and his friend, software engineer Muhammad Zikr Allah in 2016.

Cura Services

Cura operates through an application on smartphones bearing its name. The application enables the medical consultation requester to communicate with a doctor via electronic messaging or via video directly (in real time), as well as the requester can obtain prescriptions online, as well as the “Afiya” program to provide advice on depression, stress, chronic diseases, nutrition and others of lifestyle issues.

Currently, more than 4,500 doctors are working in Cura. They have provided their medical services to about 350,000 users since the launch of the Cura application. Cura relies on providing its services to the Saudi market, as the percentage of Saudi users of the application reaches about 95%.

Planning global

The startup plans to use the funding to improve the user experience, offering more services to both individual users and partner customers, such as collecting blood samples from patients' houses, and offering employee health benefits that can be integrated with insurance companies. It also puts on its agenda the expansion of the platform's work to become more global during the upcoming five years.

Saudi Arabia topped the list of leading countries in the digital economy, SPA reported, citing Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah Alswaha, during his speech to the G20 digital economy ministers’ meeting.

Bridging the digital gap globally is the way to achieve inclusiveness and prosperity of societies, Alswaha said.

Regulations in the field of innovation should be flexible enough to stimulate creativity and keep pace with the rapid pace of change that is driven by digital transformation, he said.

The Green Saudi Arabia and Green Middle East initiatives, launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are an addition to investment in new environment-friendly industries and markets.

NEOM City, the largest global platform for innovators, is an ideal example of harmonizing regulation and innovation, to achieve well-being and preserve the environment through the adaptation of technology and innovation, Alswaha said.

Saudi Arabia took part in a G20 digital economy event on Aug. 5, where ministers discussed key issues related to digital transformation ahead of a final communique that will be endorsed by heads of states and governments at the Rome Summit.

The Kingdom has already realized qualitative achievements in this regard, mainly the unanimous approval of countries on a roadmap to measure and define the digital economy, in addition to adopting artificial intelligence principles.

source: Arab News

The size of the consumer digital economy in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Mena region is estimated to more than double from around $40-45 billion (Dh147-165 billion) in 2020 to $100 billion (Dh367 billion) by 2023, according to a new report released by consulting firm RedSeer.

The study found that the UAE and Saudi Arabia will continue to be the pillar of the digital economy in Mena, contributing around 70 per cent of the total digital economy.

Today, over 90 per cent of customers in UAE and Saudi Arabia say they bought a retail product online, higher than even some of the more developed markets where digital adoption is around 70 per cent.

The market will see growth both through consumer adoption and a higher frequency of purchases.

“Over the last decade, we have seen significant adoption of online services amongst Mena consumers. More than 60 per cent of consumers are now choosing experiential factors such as service quality, delivery speed and product description in their decision-making. As the digital economy is becoming mainstream, players will have to provide a better experience in addition to discounts to win in the digital economy race,” said Sandeep Ganediwalla, managing partner at RedSeer Consulting.

The study found that the Mena region is seeing one of the most equitable growth in the world. “A strong online omnichannel player ecosystem has successfully gained consumer trust.

On the other hand, supportive policies in UAE enable the ecosystem to attract the right talent and retain it,” said the report.

source: khaleej times

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet has approved a digital economy policy, state news agency SPA reported.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha said the policy will be a road map for the Kingdom’s directions for government authorities, the private sector and the international community in fields related to digital economy, the report added.
The digitalization of the economy will encourage investments, increase local technical leadership and attract international partnerships in fields of innovation and digital transformation, SPA said.

Translated by: Hayat Hernández

Although palm trees are considered beautiful decorative plants and very suitable for sunny days, they have a very significant role in nutrition being a rich source of vitamins and important minerals.

As said in the Quran “For it is He who has brought into being gardens-[both] the cultivated ones and those growing wild -and the date-palm, and fields bearing multiform produce, and the olive tree, and the pomegranate: [all] resembling one another and yet so different! Eat of their fruit when it comes to fruition, and give [unto the poor] their due on harvest day. And do not waste [God's bounties]: verily, He does not love the wasteful”, Al Ana‘am (6: 141)

It’s thought that the first place where palm trees were cultivated was the Arabian island “Harkan” in Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf, and later spread through Iraq into the other parts of the world according to “Ibn Wahshyah”, one of the oldest writers in terms of agriculture. Confirmed by “Al Subai’I” 1933.

Palm trees and different cultures

This tree was a symbol of warship amongst Chaldea, Assyrians and Phoenicians, in fact, many ministries in Arab countries relate palm trees with culture, religion and history. According to the official website of the ministry of agriculture in Jordan, palm tree was mentioned in the Jewish scripts, as well as dates which were one of the seven sacred fruits. It was mentioned in the bible also that Crist was born under a palm tree, and his followers paved the ground with palm leaves along his way when he entered Jerusalem. As for Islam, dates have a very special quality when it comes to Ramadan (the month that Muslims fast during), where it is desirable for the fasting person to break his fast on dates. This was proven by the actions of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.

Many civilizations have cherished palm trees since the beginning of their rise by decorating their palaces and monuments, their trunks were also used as columns. Cultivating palm trees was the first type of farming that certain laws were made for to follow, as it was in Hammurabi’s Code.

The Economic value

Some of the oil supplying countries are having a drop off in the oil production, while in the meantime there is another kind of oil in the pipeline that requires different climate conditions, and that is palms oil.

Nowadays, 30 countries around the world cultivate palm trees, almost 600 thousand hectares of farmed land, 422 thousand of them belong to Arab lands. The economic worth of this plant is tremendous that it’s in the vein of oil growing on trees. The Arab world has come in the lead in the dates production by 70% of international production, out of 100 million trees that are planted in the world, almost 80 million are planted in Arab countries. Although palm trees cultivation isn’t the easiest, the outcomes of this kind of investment are noteworthy considering 80 to 100 Kg of dates come from just one tree after 7 years of planting.

Obviously the date fruit production represents a very significant sector in the economy, and it’s rising constantly. For example, Turkey consumes almost 10 thousand tons of dates in Ramadan according to the Jordan newspaper “Al-Raya”, and this sector is considered to be in the lead in terms of hiring a tremendous number of workers, which reduces the average number of unemployed people in the Arab world.

Regarding the types of dates that exist, they passed 2000 types, in Iraq only there are over 600 types, 400 in Iran, and almost 400 in Libya according to the “Iraqi Network of Palm Tree”, plus over 400 type of dates in Saudi Arabia, in addition to the varieties that are cultivated in all Africa excluding Libya, they would reach more than 2000 varieties, every type having a different name which illustrates the importance of this agroindustry.

Population growth

The number of human population on earth will reach 9 billion people in 2050, which will cause the need of more food to increase, and consequently, MENA resources to decrease especially palm trees and dates due to many factors, but it will remain the best region to grow palms regarding the climate and soils.

Healthy benefits of date fruit

Balah (a type of dates) contains most basic nutrients for the human body, and they are considered a good source for vitamins. This fruit is like a mine containing a lot of basic minerals like phosphorus, calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, sulfur, and chloride. It has also numerous benefits on the health being consumed as food, a fruit, a drink, dessert, and also a medicine. It contains 21% of water and many vitamins such as vitamin A, B1, B2, D, 1.2% protein, 18% fat, 73% sugar, and 3% fibers. 1 Kg of dates provides your body with the same amount of calories that a kilogram of meat does, and three times the calories that 1 Kg of fish provides.

Date fruits contain monosaccharaides (glucose and fructose) such as Al-Barhi, Al-Sayer, Al-Zuhdi, Al-Sidi, and Halawi, and disaccharides (sucrose) such as Dajla Noor and Dajla Baida.

All parts of the palm tree can be useful, such as:

The kernel: suitable as fodder for livestock and increases its production of meat and milk. And enters in the yeast industry as well.

Leaves and fronds: to make tools, furniture, antiques, cages, ropes and baskets.

Logs: to make house roofs, doors and seats in addition to bridges, archways and pulp.

Parts of the stems can be used as fuel or tanks for planting ornamental plants.

Some types of dates are used to extract natural incense from, such as Dagla, which is bred in Morocco.

The fruit (Rutab and Dates): has a high nutritive value, as well as being a source for oil, sugar, and syrup, besides its role in the cosmetic industry.

Pollen: used in pharmaceutical manufacture.

Roots: to keep the soil consistent.

Palms and the surrounding environment

Date palm tree has a significant role in maintaining a balanced environment and preventing the desert invasion, due to its ability to adapt to it, the extension of its roots vertically and horizontally permits the plant to reach humid areas in order to get to the sources of water. As for the leaves, they are attached to the wickers and covered with a waxy layer and folded into V shape along their branch, forming a canoe-like shape, with its bottom facing upward to reduce water loss. Palm trees are also used to ward off the wind around farms, as they prevent and slow desertification. They also protect the trees and plants grown around them. The palm also tolerates high temperatures, salinity and drought.

Arab countries that most produce this unique fruit:

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom owns more than 23 million palm trees, with a production exceeding one million tons, according to Food and Agriculture Organization "FAO", equivalent to 16% of the total global production, and increasing by about 3% annually. The Kingdom supports palm farmers by about 50 riyals per palm, and this market also provides thousands of job opportunities. There are dozens of factories to manufacture palm products. Nevertheless, the kingdom does not export more than 5% of its annual output.

The most famous area in which date palm is cultivated is the Qassim region, where the "City of Dates" was established. It is famous for containing almost eight million palm trees, of which there are six million productive trees, more than 205 thousand tons of various types of dates are also grown in Saudi Arabia and more than 400 species, seventy of them have a high economic value.

United Arab Emirates

There are about 40 million palm trees in the UAE, 8.5% of them are planted in “Al Ain” region where there is a gene pool that includes almost 120 species, and high quality varieties were added recently imported from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and the Sultanate of Oman.

Palestine

Cultivated date palms have existed in Palestine for thousands of years. Being a tree of great economic value, and a great religious status, being a perennial tree, and its ability to withstand many climatic conditions, in addition to its ability to grow in saline soils, palm tree has gained the attention of the Palestinian farmer.

The Mediterranean climate conditions dominant in the area provide optimal conditions for growth and development of date palm.

Date palm cultivation is widespread in Palestine in the Jericho area, the Jordan Valley, and the Gaza Strip, especially in the cities of Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis. Historically, the city of Jericho was called the "City of Palms". Because of the large number of palm plantations in it.

Date palm cultivation is the least labor-intensive crops, and the least labor-intensive crops. The tree needs three years to bear fruit, and after six years it reaches its peak. This sector, which was on the top of the Palestinian agricultural sector in the Jordan Valley, in terms of areas, water consumption, and agricultural labor absorption.

After 1967, considerable areas of the Jordan Valley were cultivated by Israeli farmers with new high-quality date palm cultivars including Medjool. The adaptability of the new cultivars and the use of advanced techniques for propagation and cultivation of dates produced crop of excellent quality and yield to supply local and international markets.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture the cultivated area in the Palestinian valleys with palm trees is estimated at about 24 thousand dunums at the end of 2020 out of a total of 55 thousand dunums of land that Palestinians exploit in the Jordan Valley. This is a small fraction of 300 thousand dunums suitable for cultivation, but still unexploited. According to the statistics of the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, the number of palm trees by the end of 2020 was estimated at about 330 thousand trees, and the quantity of production of pure Palestinian dates until at about 12,800 thousand tons. The Palestinian local market in the West Bank and Gaza Strip consumes about 6,000 tons of dates annually. It was estimated that 60% of the Palestinian production of dates goes to the local market, and only 40% of the production is exported from the Palestinian Majool (Medjool) variety, where the per capita consumption is estimated annually at about 900 grams of dates.

The most important palm varieties cultivated in Palestine are Medjool, Al-Barhi, Elhayani. Medjool dates are one of the finest dates produced in the Palestinian, at the regional and international levels. Because it is grown in areas below sea level; It increases the percentage of oxygen, which gives it a distinct flavor and color.

According to Abu-Qaoud several constraints face date cultivation and development, including high investment costs, poor marketing, and inequitable competition with Israeli products, limited water, pests, and diseases. However, there is a trend by formal governmental agencies as well as by national NGOs to support the cultivation of date palms in Palestine. The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture has initiated several programs to support date palm cultivation in the Jordan Valley since 2000 with local NGO participation.

Egypt

According to the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, date palms cultivation extends in most governorates of the country where there are about 20 million palm trees, representing 73,653 acres, or about 6.32% of the total fruit cultivated land, as it currently reaches approximately 14% of the total fruit production. This increase is attributed to the expansion of the areas planted with palm trees in the governorates of Matrouh, New Valley, North Sinai, South Sinai, the Red Sea, Nubaria, Toshka, Al Uwaynat, and modern reclaimed lands.

Due to the varied climatic conditions in Egypt, the wet and semi-dry varieties have spread in the Delta and Middle Egypt regions, while the Upper Egypt region, especially Aswan, is known to uniquely contain dry varieties.

Palm trees need relatively high temperatures and low amount of humidity during the summer to produce fruits with good quality and high yield, specific thermal conditions that differ for different varieties are required.

A team of scientists consisting of researchers from the Genetic Engineering Research Institute, and the Central Laboratory for Palm Research and Development of the Agricultural Research Center, as well as the Bioinformatics Department of Nile University succeeded in determining the initial version of the genetic map for some varieties of date palms. Therefore, this accurate information about the commercially desirable species can be used to predict the type and gender of palm trees planted, and to contribute with reveling ways to increase Egypt's production of palm trees as well, thus enhancing its reproduction developing programs to protect the plants from diseases and pests.

Some indicators of the growing interest in palm cultivation:

Date palm tissue culture laboratory

Many countries rely on traditional agricultural methods such as seed and seedling planting, so in order to make a change by developing palm cultivation to increase its production, the Palm Tissue Cultivation Laboratory was established in 1989 at the UAE University, which intended to produce hundreds of thousands of palm seedlings. Consequently, the laboratory gained a prominent scientific position commercially as one of the largest laboratories for palm trees propagation.

Palm tissue cultivation has many advantages compared to the traditional methods, such as:

• Increasing the cultivation of female seedlings that are free of diseases and pests and resilient seedlings, or best pollen producing male seedlings.
• Cultivation of offshoots in sustainable lands directly without waiting for the incubation phase (2-3 years), the offspring then have an entire root system (offspring with whole cells) and are planted during the propagation season (August – September) or (March – April).
• Increasing the production of selected types of dates. One of the most significant advantages of this method is the homogeneity of the produced shoots, which guarantees the homogeneity and velocity of plant growth, as the crop can be harvested after only 4 years of planting.
• Palm seedlings can be propagated from known varieties or from cultivars with a seed origin.
• Ensuring an easy and rapid exchange of plant materials between different regions of the country, or between countries, without risking the spread of diseases or pests.
• Obtaining offsets from palm trees that have lost their ability to produce offspring.
• Considered to be an economic aspect as a result of increasing production in large quantities without causing any type of diseases.

In addition to that, the Dates International Council was established in Saudi Arabia, a large number of conferences and exhibitions were also held in MENA to enhance trade exchange between producing and consuming countries and also to encourage the exchange of expertise among them.

Popular date festivals such as the Palm Carnival in Saudi Arabia were organized, as well as the Emirates International Palm and Date Festival, which was arranged by Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority.

Causes of the decline in date palm production in the Arab region

Agricultural pesticides: Palm trees in Egypt are exposed to many insect pests that reduce the harvest or damage it when stored, and as a result of infection with these pests, the loss in the crop may reach 52%. In fact, some of these pests, such as the red palm weevil, may lead to the death of the palm within a year or two, which limits the spread of palm cultivation in many areas. In addition, these pests don’t just affect the fruit, but also the fronds, branches, roots and the stems.

Lack of the farmers awareness on how to fight agricultural pests.

Using traditional agricultural methods instead of modern technologies for irrigation and fertilization; increasing their rates leads to an increase in the rates of productivity of date palms and thus causing the economic outcome to rise.

Palm trees aging, which leads to a lack of production as is the case in Algeria and Tunisia, where 35% of their palms suffer from a lack of production due to their aging process.

Poor marketing as a result of lack of experience internally and externally.

Weak technical expertise that allows raising the level of the product to fit the international standards of foreign markets, as is the case in some small producing countries.

The high cost of production in the case of poor infrastructure such as roads, high transportation costs, pollen prices, fertilizers and pesticides, as is the case in Palestine where Israel controls palm pollen and pesticides for this type of tree.

Wars and political instability, as happened in Iraq, which toped the list of dates producing countries with more than six hundred species, and it is the place where man began planting palm trees four thousand years ago according to the head of the Date Palm Center at Basra University, Dr. Kazem Jasam Hammadi, who stated for “Deutsche Welle” channel the decline causes in the number of date palms in Basra, which he attributed to the war and high levels of salinity due to the rise in Gulf waters, in addition to the population invasion at the expense of palm groves.

Countries that have made qualitative progress

Palestine

Despite what may seem a small market compared to the other major markets, date producers in Palestine have made a quantum leap in the cultivation of palm trees in terms of quantity and quality within a short period not exceeding six years. The Palestinian farmer was able to plant 59,000 thousand palm seedlings; an area of ​​4,249 acres during the period (2006 - 2012).

A study issued by the Chamber of Commerce, Agriculture and Industry in Jericho city and the Jordan valley (Al Aghwar) in 2014 indicated that date palm cultivation is one of the most promising investments, as the production of dates doubled between 2012 and 2014 by 100%, bringing the production amount to about 4000 tons. There are other types of dates in Palestine such as Al-Barhi, Al-Hayani and Medjool.

According to the study carried out by the Jericho Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, dates exports reached 50% of the total agricultural exports during 2011 - 2014, because Palestinian dates fit the international quality standards, which have competed with Israeli dates on the international market. The total number of employees and workers during the harvest season was estimated at 3200 persons.

Rare dates: pass under the sea

Medjool dates are considered one of the finest types of dates produced in the Palestinian, Jordanian territory, on regional and international levels. Due to its growth in areas below sea level, the percentage of oxygen increases, which gives it a distinct flavor and color. As for the expected output of "Majhoul or Medjool" dates for the year 2015, it reached 4 to 5 thousand tons, and this figure may double ten times within one decade, according to the officials of Nakheel, which is owned by PADICO Holding Company, whose annual production of this type reached 400 tons out of 26,000 date palm trees. The Palestinian market is small, but it is a promising market. "This rare date is grown in the Palestinian valleys and parts of Mexico and California, but the" Medjool "dates grown under the sea remain the most distinctive and highest quality, as stated by Engineer Tariq Al-Qawasmi, General Manager of the Arab Agricultural Company in Jericho.

Moamen Mazen Sinokrot, General Manager of Pal Garden in Jericho, which produces 600 tons of dates per year, said that he expects significant growth in the coming period that may reach 30% annually, as a result of high demand and high return on investment.

Palestine won first place (for the fourth category) in the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm in its seventh congregation as the best development project in the field of date palm development, in which 34 Arab and foreign countries participated with 137 research. Dr. Nasser Al-Jaghoub, head of the Agricultural Risks and Insurance Fund, and Ahmed Fares, Director of Jericho Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture, won the award.

The characteristics of the Medjool or Majool palm tree

The origin of this variety is from the Kingdom of Morocco, but it disappeared from there due to agricultural pests that affected it, so its seedlings were transferred to California and then to the Jordan Valley areas in Palestine and Jordan. This variety is characterized by a medium-sized stem, and short fronds of medium bending, and the bases of the fronds are of medium width, starting with a dark green and then yellowing, and showing lines or brown spots in the middle, the number of thorns on a single frond ranges from 30 to 38, although the fruit is considered amongst the soft varieties, other type of dates fruit can be softer than meat in comparison. The fruits of this variety may suffer damage from rain and high humidity, but to a small degree. The date palm yield ranges from 80 - 100 kg per year.

Jordan

In Jordan there are about a quarter of a million trees, and the Jordan Valley region is the most famous for its palm cultivation and some areas of the northeastern desert (Al-Azraq), and Jordan is making great efforts to develop this cultivation appropriate to the nature of a large part of its lands. Where agricultural reserves for this purpose were being established, as the United Arab Emirates supplied the Kingdom with fifty thousand seedlings of tissues originating from different varieties to study their suitability for agriculture, they included Barhi, Maktoumi, Khalas, Sandy Gish, Khadrawi, Razeer, Zuhdi, Namishi. As for the interest in Medjool dates, it began in Jordan some twenty-five years ago.

Dates are the future sustenance

Engineer Muhammad Batayneh, General Manager of AgriJordan (which grows approximately 4,500 trees), stated that the date palm is the future cultivar, due to the uniqueness of this tree in its ability to purify the water it absorbs from the soil so that the plant does not secret any heavy metals or unwanted elements to the fruit. Because normally, palm trees are irrigated with recycled sewage water, which is a source for many palm farms due to the severe water shortage in the area. As a result to the unique quality of the fibers of the long stem of the palm, it purifies the water as a natural water filter. Batayneh, who is proud of the Jordan Valley dates, especially Medjool dates which are among the best in the world, carries on saying that the future of fruit and vegetables cultivation is endangered because of clean water shortage. However, palm cultivation remains feasible and profitable, and thus the cost of repeated water for irrigation purposes can be borne."

Digital spending is expected to surge further in the UAE and Saudi Arabia this month, with approximately three-quarters (76 percent) of consumers planning to buy more frequently online during Ramadan, according to a new survey.

About 60 percent of people surveyed in the two countries said they expect to buy groceries more often this Ramadan, while 50 percent said they might spend more on food delivery, global payment solution provider Checkout.com said.

The survey polled 1,000 residents in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia from March 23 to 28 this year, to examine the spending intentions of consumers in the two markets during the holy month.

The coronavirus pandemic has spurred online spending worldwide. According to a recent survey by Mastercard, 73 percent of UAE consumers have been shopping more online since the start of the outbreak last year.

“There’s no doubt that the way we live and shop has changed drastically as a result of the pandemic. With constraints imposed on our daily lives due to COVID-19, consumers are adopting new shopping and payment habits at an accelerated pace,” said Girish Nandan, Mastercard country manager for UAE and Oman.

Checkout’s survey

Overall, the majority of consumers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, approximately 95 percent, said they shop online. Less than a third (26 percent) said they will also be visiting the physical shops less frequently for products and services this month.

Among most online shoppers (67 percent), the most frequently used mode of payment are cards and digital wallets. About one in three (37 percent) said they also anticipate using cash-on-delivery less this Ramadan compared to last year.

“Many traditionally cash-centric countries in the Middle East are now converting to higher rates of digital payments. The pandemic has spurred a payments revolution of sorts, and it is not one that is going away,” said Mohammed Ali Yusuf, regional manager at Checkout.com for the Middle East North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP).

The trend, Yusuf said, provides an opportunity for merchants to “do better by unlocking more value” in every customer’s transaction.

“This is particularly important during a period like Ramadan when competition among merchants is high, and businesses need to provide the online shopping experience that consumers are looking for.”

source: zawya

Saudi-Arabia based software company Fastcoo, and Tracking, a GPS tracking system, have merged in a deal valued at SAR 2.7 million ($720,000). The deal will provide technical solutions to the logistics sector, aiming at localising the internet of things (IoT) industry in the country. 

Fastcoo, a SaaS (software as a service) company specialised in logistics for both delivery and fulfilment, offers software for businesses in the logistics and supply chain field that need to optimise, automate, utilise and prioritise their processes for their warehouse, fleet management, fulfilment centres, and/or delivery companies. It currently provides its services to more than nine countries across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena).

Tracking delivers the real-time location of any vehicle to track any object, even children and pets. 

“The provision of technical transformation for delivery and freight by localising technology and tracking systems will achieve an important impact on the Kingdom's Vision 2030,” said Hassan Jabarti, co-founder of Fastcoo. 

The merger will provide an integrated technology solution that will link transportation companies, the Transport General Authority, and refrigerated vehicles specialised in transporting medicines and food with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority. 

“We are looking forward to attracting international expertise and technologies to the Saudi market, and exporting local technology through the production of the first vehicle tracking devices in Saudi Arabia,” said, Ali Al-Rajhi, co-founder and chairman of Tracking.

source: Wamad