Prices of foods items are expected to mildly decrease or stabilize within the few coming months according to estimates of some economists, based on the entering of food companies of 7 countries (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Germany, France, Oman and Turkey) to the local markets during the last two months.  An attractive atmosphere for investing in KSA and the purchase requirement and capacity of quality food products have contributed to this. Although the prices of food products as well as the construction materials have witnessed the noticeable drop in prices in KSA markets at the end of December 2016 comparing to the same period in 2015, the foreign investors have a great desire to invest in and export to the Kingdom.

The entering of foreign companies in the local markets will contribute to increasing the competition between both the local and foreign suppliers by decreasing the prices by 15% and providing best services to consumers, as well as providing the best offers for their products, not to mention the varieties of the food product brands lately in Saudi Arabia, such as in Bottled Water and Tuna and Dry Milk, Greens and Fruits.

Turkey currently has the lion’s share, since Saudi merchants recently had transactions to import more than 850 tons of Turkish vegetables and fruits to the Saudi markets, resulting from visits of the Saudi delegates to Turkey and bilateral meetings with Turkish exporters.

Recent studies have shown an increase in a number of imported fruits and vegetables from Turkey, the percentage has reached 65% comparing to the same period last year. This is possibly because the Turkish products had proven their good quality and competitive prices in KSA.

This high increase in the importing food into Saudi Arabia resulted also from facilities provided by the Turkish government for foreign buyers, especially Saudis. News had reported that the last Saudi delegation visit to Antalya, which is famous for its fruits and vegetables in the middle east, resulted in deals of nearly 550 tons of such products.

The KSA Government take a serious step to enhance and improve the KSA economy to attract foreign investors to KSA market. There are new opportunities for UAE traders in food sector during the upcoming period to penetrate the KSA market.

On account of the constant demand for the consumer and ease of entry and government facilities provided for the Gulf States, UAE traders have a chance to strong entry in the Saudi market compared to other foreign exporters.