BURAIDAH: The Buraidah Date Festival, organized by the Al-Qassim branch of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, has registered sales exceeding SR62 million ($16.5 million) in the first seven days since its opening.
According to the statistics committee at the festival, the market has received more than 9,000 vehicles loaded with over 3,000 tons of various types of dates. Date companies and farmers are witnessing significant activity, as consumers prefer to shop for dates at the festival and freeze them for later consumption.
The ministry’s director general, Abdulaziz Al-Rajehi, said that Qassim Gov. Prince Faisal bin Mishaal has “given great attention” to the month-long festival, which will showcase more than 45 kinds of dates.
The event will also feature scores of activities and marketing schemes to promote Qassim’s date industry.
The festival aims to attract consumers, investors and exporters from the Arab and Gulf countries.
About 4,000 young men, women and families have set up booths at the festival to sell their handmade products. Meanwhile, demand for the fruit, especially ajwa dates, has increased significantly in Madinah due to the influx of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. 
Madinah is famous for producing various types of dates, including ajwa, safawi, mejdool, anbara, sagai, barni and mabroom. Pilgrims as well as visitors sample and buy the fruit during their time in the city.
The harvest season of ajwa, mejdool and safawi dates has also begun.
About 4 million trees will be harvested to stock date markets in Madinah, according to Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Radadi, director general of the Cooperative Society for Dates in Madinah.
Saudi Arabia’s Buraidah Date Festival sales exceed SR62 million
https://arab.news/mzcmy
Saudi Arabia’s Buraidah Date Festival sales exceed SR62 million
- Madinah is famous for producing various types of dates, including ajwa, safawi, mejdool, anbara, sagai, barni and mabroom
Saudi Arabia pays Yemeni government $346.6m to meet salary shortfall
- The payment is part of the Kingdom’s ongoing work to promote stability and development for the Yemenis
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has provided $346.6 million to help pay Yemeni government employees the massive shortfall in their salaries.
The payment, under a ruling by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, was delivered through the Saudi Program for Development and Reconstruction of Yemen (SDRPY).
The payment is part of the Kingdom’s ongoing work to promote stability and development for the Yemenis, the SDRPY said in a statement released on its X.com account.
The statement added that the initiative aimed to strengthen economic, financial and monetary stability in Yemen, enhance the capacity of government institutions, improve governance and transparency, and enable the private sector to drive sustainable economic growth.
Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad Al-Alimi thanked the Saudi royals for the support, describing it as an extension of the Kingdom’s longstanding support for the Yemeni people.
And Al-Alimi said the support sent a message of confidence in Yemen’s path of recovery as well as the in the government’s ability to strengthen national institutions and reinforce security and stability.
Adding that Yemen’s ongoing partnership with Saudi Arabia represented an important choice for a more stable future.
And he called for a unified effort to support the reconstruction of the country’s instituions, as well as improve living conditions and advance economic and social development.
