Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has succeeded in reshaping the global movement in the camel sector as never before. Through its establishment of the International Camel Organization (ICO) in March 2019, the Kingdom has been rallying global efforts and making immense contributions to institutionalize camel care.

With over 100 member countries, the Riyadh-based non-profit organisation is addressing all issues related to camels as a heritage in order to promote the camel industry worldwide. So far, ICO has successfully organized several events and initiatives dedicated to restructure the industry on a large-scale and spread awareness of the camel heritage worldwide, including holding the first camel owners’ conference in Europe (October 2019) and accompanying the establishment of the European Society of Camel Owners in Switzerland. More recently, ICO held a conference dedicated to promoting camel breeding across Central Asia economies as a way to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals in those countries.

Under the leadership of its founder and chairman Fahd bin Falah bin Hathleen, ICO has spearheaded international efforts to communicate the culture behind the camel industry. ICO’s efforts have been focused on increasing field studies related to camel care and finding appropriate solutions to the problems facing the farm owners, while encouraging the establishment of new farms, as well as building an international database on camel care. ICO’s activities are anticipated to create an ideal system that will herald a new era for camel farming as an effective economic and investment field.