The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) has revealed that the food industry import costs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reached SAR 70 billion annually, providing many entrepreneurial opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors and owners of small and medium enterprises, especially with the great support provided by the ministry, through which it aims to localize 85% of the food industry by 2030. This was stated by Supervisor General of the Entrepreneurship Department at MEWA Dr. Ali Al-Sabhan during his participation of in a session titled "The Impact of Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Food and Environmental Security of the Gulf Cooperation Council states", which was held as part of the Gulf Entrepreneurs Forum. He said that Saudi Arabia targets to raise its fish production by 500% and increase its exports to SAR 3 billion, in addition to raising the volume of date exports to SAR2.5 billion by 2025, adding that the ministry is adopting a strategy to develop innovation and entrepreneurship which will eventually contribute to enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of the environment, water and agricultural sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. Al-Sabhan stated that the ministry is working on developing pioneering projects and activating local and international strategic partnerships, calling on entrepreneurs to take advantage of the various programs offered by the ministry.
