The newly established Oman Dates Development Company will set up a world-class complex costing about RO92 million ($238.9 million) in the Wilayat of Nizwa.

The complex will include the central processing units, secondary products-based industries and other innovative industries, a senior official said.

The announcement was made during the celebrations marking the establishment of the Oman Dates Development Company, added the Oman News Agency report.

The company was established in cooperation with the Oman National Investments Development Company (Tanmia), it said.

The newly-established company will be the investment arm of the One Million Date Palm Trees Project, which was ordered by HM Sultan Qaboos Bin Said.

The ceremony was held under the auspices of Dr Khamis bin Saif al Jabri, head of the Implementation and Follow up Support Unit.

Dr Rashid bin Seif al Shaqsi, director general of the One Million Date Palm Trees Project, delivered a speech thanking HM Sultan Qaboos Bin Said who gave Royal orders to plant one million tree out of his belief in the importance of the date palm tree.

He added that this project will enhance the food security in the Sultanate and contribute to enhancing the economic, social, cultural, and environmental resources of Oman.

The project also aims at having a modern date palm tree sector in the sultanate to ensure optimum utilisation of the available resources.

It also seeks to create a modern date processing sector that uses the most advanced technological applications in products in parallel with the development of the traditional crafts for secondary products and maintaining the Omani heritage in this fields.

The project also aims at enhancing the economic capabilities of the Omani agriculture in general and encouraging food processing.

The One Million Date Palm Trees Project aims to produce 96,000 tonnes of dates and about 56,000 tonnes of date palm products, such as fronds, trunks, trunk bases, offshoot and other, added the report.