VOICES FROM THE SECTOR: AGRICULTURE
What are the mandate and main activities of NCPD?
Our main mission is to promote and enhance the quality of dates, reduce the usage of water in date growing, and boost opportunities for by-products such as syrup, paste, sugar, and others. Our main activities will focus on marketing and quality to become the number-one exporter of dates by 2025 in terms of value. We are working with leading consulting firms worldwide to build new marketing strategies and programs as well as a solid infrastructure to fulfill the high demand for Saudi dates worldwide. We work closely with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and receive a great deal of support.
How should the date industry move up in the value chain?
NCPD seeks to create a solid integrated supply chain, starting with planting and farming inputs, and we provide support to grow high-quality dates and increase efficiency, collection, sorting, cleaning, grading, and storage. We are working with our partners, including farmers of all sizes, to produce dates in a safe, efficient, and economically viable manner. We have 123,000 farms in the Kingdom producing 1.3 million tons and have 28.5 million palm trees. We export SAR750 million in value.
Could you introduce Franway and its core strategies?
Franway is the first closed joint-stock company and advisor in Saudi Arabia in the field of franchising. We have two business lines: investment, where we look for franchising opportunities to acquire businesses as a master franchisee and work out their development plans in Saudi Arabia, while also developing local brands with the aim of expanding overseas in the region; and advisory services, where we help businesses develop their infrastructure in terms of operation manuals, policies, procedures, and guidelines. For that, we keep our eyes on performance, financial strategy, and business models.
What have been some of your success stories?
One of the concepts we are proud of is Shrimplus. We developed its entire system of franchise solutions and marketed it. Shrimplus opened its second store and is set to open another two in the near future. We helped it find another franchisee, and it has already signed one contract. We are working with it to develop four units in Jeddah. We also have emerging brands that we are proud of, such as Lord of Fries as well as success stories from brands from abroad, such as Republic Chocolate from Dubai and Gourmet Popsicle from Mauritius.
What is your assessment of the new regulatory measures impacting the food industry in Saudi Arabia?
There are many new regulations focusing on quality, safety, performance, and environmental standards, which are much more comprehensive and stricter than before. Initially, businesses may face some difficulties in meeting all the requirements, but once they have all these rules covered, the industry will be in a much better shape. There are also more expenses in the labor sector now, such as the cost of getting visas for workers. Some adjustments might have to happen to avoid these costs going onto the price of products, although quality-wise the Saudi market is significantly ahead.
How will e-commerce affect Saudi Arabia's food market?
Online commerce is cheap compared to the retail business, and logistics have also become much cheaper. Therefore, e-commerce will become the testing ground, and the bulk of purchases will be through sites such as Amazon in the future rather than traditional retailers like supermarkets. The most important development is that the cost of logistics has gone down, and the service quality has improved greatly. The cost of distributing food across the GCC is still expensive,
VOICES FROM THE SECTOR: AGRICULTURE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Interview
Mohammed A. Al-Mowkley , Deputy Minister of Water Services, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture & CEO, National Water Company (NWC)
NWC leads the Kingdom's efforts to preserve water as a non-renewable national resource and drastically reduce the average per capita water consumption.
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Majed H. Al Saadi , Managing Director, Priority Projects Office (PPO), Local Content and Government Procurement Authority
PPO and ECA act as an accelerator for the realization of Vision 2030 by bridging the gap between the private and public sectors and helping the government diversify the economy in the long run.
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HRH Princess Hala bint Khaled bin Sultan Al-Saud C, Chairman, Saudi Law Conference (SLC) organizing committee & Founder,, Burhan Almarifa
Burhan Almarifa is focused on maturing the legal sector, encouraging innovation, and enabling research and development in KSA through knowledge transfer and consultancy.
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Sahel N. Abduljauwad, Rector, King Fahd University oF Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM)
The King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals has long been the backbone of Saudi Arabia's formidable drilling expertise. Today, it is working to train the next generation of renewable energy and water management scientists.
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Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish, Rector, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU)
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish was appointed vice president of KFU in 2007 and president in 2010. He combined his executive experience from serving in various deanships at KFU with academic practices to become associate professor of medicine and work as a medical consultant at the Department of Internal Medicine. He graduated from KFU's College of Medicine and completed his medical internship at KFHU, where he also pursued a fellowship program. He became a member of the UK Royal College of Physicians and the Arab Board after he completed his sub-subspecialty in Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Alberta, Canada.
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Rajaa Moumena, Founder & President, Future Institute of Higher Education and Training
Saudi Arabia is allowing women more privileges, including driving and becoming ambassadors. The Future Institute of Higher Education and Training is trying to help by providing courses they need to adapt to this new world.
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