Estimating the Expected Commercial Potential of Saudi Date Exports to Middle Eastern Countries Using the Gravity Model

Yosef Alamri, Mohamad A. Alnafissa, Alaa Kotb, Fuad Alagsam, Abdullah I. Aldakhil, Imad Eldin Alfadil, Mohammad H. Al-Qunaibet and Sharafeldin Alaagib
Additional contact information
Mohamad A. Alnafissa: Department of Agricultural Economics, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Alaa Kotb: Department of Agricultural Economics, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Fuad Alagsam: Department of Agricultural Economics, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah I. Aldakhil: Advanced Agricultural & Food Technologies Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
Imad Eldin Alfadil: Department of Agricultural Economics, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mohammad H. Al-Qunaibet: Department of Agricultural Economics, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Sharafeldin Alaagib: Department of Agricultural Economics, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-11

Abstract: Date production farms account for 10% of total income in the agricultural sector. Although Saudi exports of dates reach many countries, they are still of lower quantity compared to the size of their production. This study investigates the possibility of expanding external marketing of date exports by increasing the marketing efficiency of the existing market, which is expected to lead to increased returns. Therefore, this research uses the gravity model to identify the most critical factors affecting Saudi date exports to Middle Eastern countries. The results indicated the positivity of the per capita GDP in Saudi Arabia, the common border in influencing the increase in date exports, and the opposite effect of membership in the Gulf Cooperation Organization (GCC). In estimating the potential and expected trade capabilities with the Middle Eastern countries, the study results show that the actual value of date exports to the countries of the Middle East represents about 83.37% of its expected potential date trade, and it is possible to increase the export value by 16.63%, or USD 12.75 million. The study provides recommendations to improve date trade further.

Keywords: dates; gravity model; trade flow; exports; Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2552/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2552/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2552-:d:1360496

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().