On behalf of His Excellency the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, Engineer Ahmed Suleiman Al-Rajhi, Engineer Sultan bin Jaris Al-Jaris, Undersecretary for Social Insurance and Empowerment and Acting Director of the Social Development Sector, presided over the 2nd Annual Cooperative Sector Awards ceremony. The event, held at the Ministry's headquarters in Riyadh, was attended by His Excellency Mr. Ahmed bin Saleh Al Majid, Undersecretary for Community Development, along with other dignitaries, partner organizations, and stakeholders in the cooperative sector. This initiative reflects the Ministry's commitment to recognizing the contributions of individuals and organizations working towards the objectives of the cooperative sector in the Kingdom.

During his speech, Al-Jaris commended all cooperative sector employees for their significant contributions in achieving the sector's goals in 2023. He stressed the importance of sustaining these achievements and pursuing even more ambitious targets in the future. This will further solidify progress towards the key cooperative objectives, which ultimately aim to improve members' social and economic well-being.

Mr. Maan bin Ali Al-Anqari, Director General of the General Administration of Cooperative Societies, shed light on the cooperative sector's key achievements for 2023. These included the establishment of 439 new cooperatives, a labor market growth of 8,232 individuals, and an increase in the number of economically and socially empowered individuals to 3,019.  He additionally noted that the cooperative sector generated total revenue exceeding 1.5 billion Saudi riyals.

The ceremony concluded with a tribute to several outstanding individuals and organizations in the cooperative sector for their achievements in 2023.