The Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) inked a cooperation protocol with a Malaysian company to plant and process 1.5 mn Medjool date palms in Kharga Oasis, New Valley governorate Mohamed El Zamaloot said, according to Al Shorouk. The story does not get into the project’s value or timeline, but its description of the potential venture as “industrial agriculture” suggests it is more than simply a date packaging operation. The AOI is also in talks with Austria-based engineering firm Andritz AG to set up a factory to locally manufacture water pumps, Chairman Abdel Moneim El Teras said separately, according to the newspaper.