المملكة: Photos| Technology adoption and entrepreneurship…the most prominent recommendations of the Saudi Rural Forum

The First International Saudi Rural Forum, which concluded its work in Al-Ahsa, recommended the need to focus on technology and entrepreneurship and adopt simple and innovative solutions to achieve sustainable rural development in the Kingdom.
The forum, organized by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, stressed the importance of employing innovations to raise the efficiency of the agricultural sector, support small farmers, and enhance food and water security.

Using technology in development areas

The forum reviewed the latest technologies and solutions that serve farmers and support small food producers, stressing the importance of transforming challenges into entrepreneurial opportunities by benefiting from local resources and the experiences of others in the field of development and improvement.
Participants in the forum stressed the importance of technology and entrepreneurship as a fundamental driver for the development of the Saudi countryside, through adopting innovative solutions that contribute to achieving food and water security and enhancing the sustainability of natural resources, pointing out the necessity of localizing innovations in the agricultural sector, reviewing the latest technologies and solutions that serve farmers. It supports small food producers.

Dr. explained. Moataz Al-Salim, Director General of the General Administration of Technical Solutions and Innovation and Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the First International Rural Conference held in Al-Ahsa, told Al-Youm: “The goal of this conference is to highlight the importance of adopting and localizing innovations in rural society, specifically in the agricultural sector, to determine water and food security.” While preserving natural resources.
He continued: “Today we have a very huge exhibition with the presence of innovative companies that provide promising solutions for farmers and small farmers, and we also have a group of products from farms.”

Conference topics and recommendations

Al-Salim said: “The conference in general focused on four main axes. The first axis is focusing on the role of innovation in supporting and achieving sustainable development goals globally, talking about the role of innovations in achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and talking about the most promising sectors.”
He continued: “Today, the rural community does not only serve the agricultural sector, but also serves many sectors, including the industrial, cultural, and tourism sectors. Today, Al-Ahsa is considered a beautiful region and a living example of rural areas that support this transformation.”

Al-Salim said: “Perhaps the most prominent recommendations that we emerged from in this forum is to focus on the importance of adopting and developing technologies. Today, innovation is not an option, but rather a necessity in order to develop further, increase efficiency further, and reduce more costs.”
He added: “And the second point, in one of the sessions, you mentioned that you look at anything that is seen is an opportunity, and for example, whoever does the process of drawing with sand is an opportunity, and there are those who produce transformed products from bee honey, and we have technologies that serve farmers, so today it is very important to rely on “Innovate and benefit from the experiences of others, especially with regard to developing and improving products and services provided to both farmers and end users.”

Entrepreneurship and strengthening the rural sector

Mazen Al-Qarni, Director of the Intellectual Property Department at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, said: “Today, in the First International Conference on Rural Saudi Arabia, we are happy to talk about innovation, increasing business and its essential role in developing rural areas. We also know that innovation and entrepreneurship have an essential role in the process of economic transformation and the creation of new economic sectors.” “.
He continued: “In the field of rural areas in particular, one of the sessions talked about the importance of entrepreneurship and how it can contribute to strengthening the rural sector and supporting small farmers. We spoke with a number of government sectors about the most prominent services they provide, and the most prominent programs for small farmers and others.”
He continued: “We saw the importance of integration between these sectors, stressing that such conferences contribute to raising awareness and enhancing communication between all parties of the system, beneficiaries and small farmers.”

A said. D. Abdul Rahman Issa Al-Laili, Vice Dean of King Faisal University for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research: “Al-Ahsa was honored to embrace this important occasion and King Faisal University was also honored to have an effective contribution to this forum, through organization and participation in the various pillars, and through participation as speakers with the participation of the university president as one of the speakers.” “.
He continued: “I was also personally honored to speak on this occasion, and the talk was that we can serve the rural community by providing simple solutions to the rural community, and also to show the rural community that they are not only a party that benefits from us, but that we can benefit from them and their scientific and field expertise and cooperation.” In a number of research projects.