Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday its plan to localize 85 percent of its food industry by 2030, the Saudi Press Agency reported, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya.
The country aims to raise its fish production by 500 percent and its exports to 3 billion Saudi riyals (800 million U.S. dollars), and the date exports to 2.5 billion riyals by 2025, said Ali Al-Sabhan, supervisor general of the Entrepreneurship Department at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, at the Gulf Entrepreneurs Forum held in the capital Riyadh.
The annual food import now costs Saudi Arabia 70 billion riyals, which means huge investment potential in localizing the food industry, according to Al-Sabhan.
The forum, targeting entrepreneurs, business incubators, and financing institutions in the Gulf region, seeks to boost investment and financing opportunities and to enhance economic growth through innovation.