Investment Contract for Saudi Arabia’s First Coffee-Growing City Signed

A veiled woman makes coffee as she works at a coffee shop in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Reuters
A veiled woman makes coffee as she works at a coffee shop in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Reuters
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Investment Contract for Saudi Arabia’s First Coffee-Growing City Signed

A veiled woman makes coffee as she works at a coffee shop in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Reuters
A veiled woman makes coffee as she works at a coffee shop in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Reuters

The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has signed an investment contract for the first “coffee city” in the Kingdom.

The deal with the Agricultural Cooperative Society in Baljurashi, which lasts for 15 years, was signed under the patronage of Abdul Rahman Al-Fadhli, the Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, and in the presence of Undersecretary for Agriculture Ahmed Al-Ayada.

The ministry said that the agreement aims to achieve sustainability of agricultural products and crops, encourage agricultural investment, develop vegetation cover, create local job opportunities, and enhance the role of cooperative societies in the Kingdom.

The agreement includes the cultivation of 300,000 coffee arabica seedlings and pomegranate trees on a 1,662,373-square-meter site in the village of Mashuqa, in Al-Qura governorate, Al-Baha.

It will include a model farm, an integrated nursery for cultivating coffee seedlings, and an industrial center that includes workshops, warehouses, a business center, on-site accommodation, a training center, and a mosque.



About 12% of Oil Production in Gulf of Mexico Shut-in

People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
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About 12% of Oil Production in Gulf of Mexico Shut-in

People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)

About 12% of current oil production and 6.04% of the current natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico is shut-in due to storm Helene, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a statement on Saturday.

Authorities across the southeastern United States faced the daunting task on Saturday of cleaning up from Hurricane Helene, one of the most powerful and perhaps costliest to hit the country.

Damage estimates across the storm's rampage range between $95 billion and $110 billion, potentially making this one of the most expensive storms in modern US history, said chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter of AccuWeather, a commercial forecasting company.
Downgraded late on Friday to a post-tropical cyclone, the remnants of Helene continued to produce heavy rains across several states, sparking massive flooding that threatened to cause dam failures that could inundate entire towns.