Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — A total of 233 cooperative societies affiliated to the Ministry of Labor and Social Development are operating in various parts of the Kingdom, the Arabic daily Al-Watan reported quoting a ministry statement.

The ministry explained that the societies were in seven categories: agricultural, multipurpose, consumer, vocational, marketing, services and fishermen.

With 45 cooperative societies, Riyadh tops other regions of the Kingdom in their number, followed by Asir, which has 35 societies, and Makkah, which has 26 societies.

The ministry said there were 153 multipurpose societies, which are the largest type of societies. They representing about 65.6 percent of the societies, followed by agricultural societies, which number 56, representing about 24 percent of the total.

On its electronic website, the ministry said a multipurpose cooperative society provides the citizens with foodstuffs and consumer goods, advice them about the best methods of making their investments and provide them with guidance, support services and training.

The agricultural cooperative provides the citizens with agricultural products, reclaim land, dig wells, establishes poultry farms, distributes agricultural machinery and markets the produce of farmers.

The fishermen society is providing fishing equipment consisting of fishing boats, fishing rods and spare parts. It establishes repair workshops for fishing boats and markets fishermen’s catch.

The vocational cooperative societies set up mechanical workshops and train young Saudis on various mechanical jobs.

The consumer society will make efforts to provide foodstuffs and consumer goods at reasonable prices in order to curb price rises. According to the ministry, the marketing societies will market the produce of farmers consisting of agricultural crops, eggs and chicken. It also extends veterinary services.

The ministry said the service societies would establish housing complexes with a view to reducing construction costs.