Agreement Reached to Develop Sustainable Food Supply Using Sunlight in W. Saudi Arabia

The Red Sea Development Company partners with Red Sea Farms to develop a sustainable food supply for The Red Sea’s flagship destination using sunlight and saltwater. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Red Sea Development Company partners with Red Sea Farms to develop a sustainable food supply for The Red Sea’s flagship destination using sunlight and saltwater. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Agreement Reached to Develop Sustainable Food Supply Using Sunlight in W. Saudi Arabia

The Red Sea Development Company partners with Red Sea Farms to develop a sustainable food supply for The Red Sea’s flagship destination using sunlight and saltwater. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Red Sea Development Company partners with Red Sea Farms to develop a sustainable food supply for The Red Sea’s flagship destination using sunlight and saltwater. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism project, has partnered with Red Sea Farms, a Saudi Arabian AgTech business, to develop a sustainable food supply for The Red Sea’s flagship destination using sunlight and saltwater.

Red Sea Farms will build and operate the indoor farm, growing crops to sustainably feed guests and residents at The Red Sea Project. It will become the main supplier to the luxury destination’s resorts and restaurants.

CEO of TRSDC John Pagano said: “At TRSDC we believe in embracing innovations to solve the challenges we face as we attempt to improve our relationship with the environment. Red Sea Farms’ technology is novel, exciting and has the possibility of helping to tackle food scarcity globally.”

“This partnership means we’re meeting our own sustainable and regenerative ambitions,” he added.

The innovative technology uses sunlight and saltwater to cool greenhouses and grow crops, instead of relying on rainfall, fresh groundwater, or desalinated water.

This saves up to 300 liters of freshwater per kilogram of produce – a 95 percent saving compared with other AgTech systems.

The technology has been designed and developed in Saudi Arabia for use in often challenging environmental conditions.

This means a reduced impact on the environment and a significant cost saving for growers. It also results in more nutritious crops, while also providing a richer taste, flavor, and texture.

By 2023, The Red Sea Project will welcome 300,000 guests annually and upwards of 14,000 employees, and once fully operational in 2030, up to one million guests per year and home to around 35,000 employees.

Feeding this many people in a remote, largely desert environment presents huge logistical challenges.

TRSDC has set aside a 50 square hectare food development area and is inviting leading companies from around the world to set up production facilities, as well as pilots of cutting-edge food technologies that can someday be used on a commercial scale.

The Red Sea Farms indoor farm will produce a diverse range of fresh leafy greens, herbs, vine crops, fruit including berries, and vegetables. Following the pilot, Red Sea Farms will have the option of expanding the farm to up to 100 hectares in the future, which would make it the largest sustainable farm of its kind in the world.

TRSDC also partnered with Blue Planet Ecosystems in a regional first to deliver sustainably produced seafood.

The first phase of the project will be implemented as a 3,500m2 pilot, to assess whether conditions at The Red Sea Project are suitable for the solution to work effectively and efficiently.

This will be the first Land-based Automated Recirculating Aquaculture (LARA) system pilot in the Middle East to undergo a commercial trial.



IMF's Georgieva Says US Tariffs Represent Significant Risk to Global Outlook

International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo 
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IMF's Georgieva Says US Tariffs Represent Significant Risk to Global Outlook

International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo 

Sweeping tariffs announced on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump pose a significant risk to the global economy at a time when growth has been sluggish, the head of the International Monetary Fund said in a statement on Thursday.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said it was important to avoid steps that could further harm the global economy and appealed to the United States and its trading partners to work constructively to reduce tensions, according to Reuters.

“We are still assessing the macroeconomic implications of the announced tariff measures, but they clearly represent a significant risk to the global outlook at a time of sluggish growth,” Georgieva said in her strongest comments to date on the risks posed by the US trade actions.

“It is important to avoid steps that could further harm the world economy. We appeal to the United States and its trading partners to work constructively to resolve trade tensions and reduce uncertainty.”

Georgieva said the IMF would provide its assessment of the announced tariffs when it releases an update to its World Economic Outlook during the April 21-26 meetings in Washington, DC, that bring together members and shareholders of the IMF and the World Bank.

The head of the global lender on Monday told Reuters that Trump's push for wide-ranging tariffs was creating great uncertainty and denting confidence, but it was not likely to trigger a near-term recession.

At the time, Georgieva said the IMF would likely lower the economic outlook slightly, adding “we don't see recession on the horizon.”

The US tariffs announced on Wednesday went far beyond the levels that had been predicted or expected by trade experts.