DUMMAT AL-JUNDAL: Food truck owners have been given the chance to take part in the Al-Jouf Dates Festival, held in the Exhibition City of the Dummat Al-Jandal governorate, as part of efforts to support young entrepreneurs in the region. Smihan bin Mohammed Al-Shammari, mayor of Dummat Al-Jandal municipality and CEO of the festival, said that 37 food truck entrepreneurs are participating in festival events. Special areas for food trucks have been allocated as part of the municipality’s efforts to encourage small businesses and achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. The Al-Jouf region municipality has launched incubators to support the projects of young entrepreneurs in the region and its governorates, and has also worked on facilitating licenses and procedures.  Saudi Arabia is focusing on boosting date production throughout the Kingdom. In late January, Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Fumio Iwai visited the Al-Ahsa date festival, which was organized by the Al-Ahsa municipality at Al-Ahsa Heritage Castle in Al-Hofuf. The envoy expressed his happiness with the activities and programs he witnessed at the festival, pointing to his previous visits to a number of date festivals around the Kingdom. Al-Ahsa is the largest date palm oasis in the world, with about 3 million trees spread across 30,000 acres.