IDB, Madinah Chamber of Commerce sign MoU to promote dates sector

Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Bandar M. H. Hajjar, and Chairman of the Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Munir Nasser bin Saad, recently signed an MoU for mutual cooperation and support in promoting the commercial and economic sectors of Madinah.
The agreement aims at achieving the goals of the National Transition Program 2020 and Vision 2030. The signing ceremony was attended by the CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), Hani Salem Sonbol, and the Secretary-General of the Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mohammed Mahmoud Ramadan.
The MoU includes the development of the dates sector in Madinah, which will be implemented under the supervision of ITFC, the trade financing arm of the IsDB Group, for two years in cooperation with the International Trade Center (ITC). The project aims to address the obstacles faced by farmers and SMEs to ensure full utilization of the potential of the dates sector in Madinah.
IsDB Chairman Hajar said: “The Kingdom, which annually produces about 1.2 million tons of dates, has great potential to increase its exports and explore new export markets. The project aims to improve competitiveness and increase exports of Madinah dates, which will generate better returns for farmers and create more jobs.”
Hajar noted that the pilot project was included under the Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS) with Saudi Arabia, which includes projects and activities in the field of trade development and their sources of funding.
Chairman of the Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nasser bin Saad expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Islamic Development Bank in promoting the dates sector in Madinah and ensuring revenues for a large number of farmers and private sector institutions. “This MoU represents a strategic shift in strengthening the national identity of the dates sector in the Madinah region,” he said.
ITFC CEO Sonbol said: “We also support the capacity building project in the field of international trade. This project provides effective training on the mechanisms and requirements of export to foreign markets, in various productive sectors in Madinah. This type of training and rehabilitation was designed by the Foreign Trade Training Center (FTTC) in Egypt to educate the productive sector on the importance of exports. The training courses for this program will then be launched under the supervision of ITFC.”