Egypt has begun establishing the world’s largest date plantation, with total of 2.3 million palm trees will be planted in the Toshka and Al-Owainat regions.

The launch of the project was announced by the Republic’s Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport Kamel Al-Wazir, according to Daily News Egypt, a partner of TV BRICS.

The project is being implemented on the instructions of the President of Egypt.

As Kamel Al-Wazir emphasised, the development of the date production and processing sector is a priority for diversifying the national economy, increasing export revenues, and creating new jobs.

Egypt is already the world leader in date production, accounting for more than 19 per cent of global output. It is noted that the Ministry of Industry is actively developing the sector through modernisation of factories and the establishment of new packaging stations. At present, more than 150 industrial enterprises operate in the field of date processing and packaging.

Modern cold storage facilities with a capacity of 4,000 tonnes have already been built in the Arab Republic, and key production complexes have been upgraded.

The report also highlights that Egypt is developing the entire date industry, not merely expanding plantations.

With the support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, a climate map of date palm varieties has been introduced.

Dates have been designated a priority export product under the FAO’s One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Global Initiative.