Saudi Arabia Sets World Record with Largest Food Cluster

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef attends the ceremony to launch Jeddah Food Cluster. SPA
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef attends the ceremony to launch Jeddah Food Cluster. SPA
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Saudi Arabia Sets World Record with Largest Food Cluster

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef attends the ceremony to launch Jeddah Food Cluster. SPA
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef attends the ceremony to launch Jeddah Food Cluster. SPA

Saudi Arabia has set a Guinness World Record for the largest food park in the world by area with the Jeddah Food Cluster, which spans over 11 million square meters and has set a new global benchmark.

Spanning 11 million square meters, the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) announced ambitious plans for the cluster, targeting investments of up to SAR20 billion and creating 43,000 job opportunities by 2035. The cluster aims to stimulate economic growth, enhance food security, and support national exports.
Over the next decade, the Jeddah Food Cluster is projected to contribute SAR8 billion to national exports and add SAR7 billion to the GDP. MODON will achieve this by investing in advanced infrastructure, shared services, and innovative solutions.
By integrating services and optimizing supply chains, the cluster aims to reduce operational costs by 5-12%. This will not only benefit businesses but also contribute to strengthening national food security and self-sufficiency in essential commodities.



Customers at this Starbucks Can Sip Coffee and Observe a Quiet North Korean Village

Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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Customers at this Starbucks Can Sip Coffee and Observe a Quiet North Korean Village

Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Coffee drinkers can sip their beverages and view a quiet North Korean mountain village from a new Starbucks at a South Korean border observatory.
Customers have to pass a military checkpoint before entering the observatory at Aegibong Peace Ecopark, which is less than a mile from North Korean territory and overlooks North Korea’s Songaksan mountain and a nearby village in Kaephung county, The Associated Press said.
The tables and windows face North Korea at the Starbucks, where about 40 people, a few of them foreigners, came to the opening Friday.
The South Korean city of Gimpo said hosting Starbucks was part of efforts to develop its border facilities as a tourist destination and said the shop symbolizes “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”
The observatory is the key facility at Aegibong park, which was built on a hill that was a fierce battle site during the 1950-53 Korean War. The park also has gardens, exhibition and conference halls and a war memorial dedicated to fallen marines.
Gimpo and other South Korean border cities like Paju have been trying to develop their border sites as tourist assets, even as tensions grow between the war-divided Koreas.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been trying to raise pressure on South Korea and threatening to attack his rival with nuclear weapons if provoked. North Korea has also engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against South Korea, such as flying trash-laden balloons into the South and disrupting GPS signals from border areas near the South’s biggest airport.
Kaephung county is believed to be one of the possible sites from where North Korea has launched thousands of balloons over several months.
South Korea’s military said Friday that the North flew dozens more balloons overnight and that some trash and leaflets landed around the capital Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province.