Indonesia

Qatar and Malaysia have agreed to look at the possibility of investing in Islamic countries, particularly in growing food. Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Rais Yatim told Gulf Times that certain states in his country did have land for joint cultivation but “what we are encouraging is for the two countries to go, for example, to Indonesia, or to another (Muslim) country”.

Tanri said the government was eager to encourage and provide support to deep-pocketed business leaders from the Middle East to invest in Indonesia.

The government aims to net more investment from Middle East oil state main players next year, in particular in the agricultural sector, despite the global economic downturn, says a government official.

Le cas malgache n’est pas isolé. Une véritable ruée vers les terres agricoles est engagée à l’échelle mondiale.

Saudi-based investment firm Binladin Group is mulling at investing on agriculture projects here worth an estimated US$4.3 billion, which will be spent within the course of 15 years, says an official.

Deputy for agriculture and fisheries to the coordinating minister for economic affairs Bayu Krisnamurthi earlier said that the government had given a priority to a regulation pertaining to the development of food estates to support Indonesia`s food security. According to him, the economic affairs coordinating ministry was drafting a regulation, 90 percent of which had been completed.

The food crisis this year generated unprecedented interest in Cambodian agricultural land, and governments are scrambling for access to the country's vast food-growing potential.

The initial welcome given to rich countries’ investment in African farmland by agricultural and development officials has faded as the first ventures prove to be heavily weighted in favour of the investors. The FAO warned of such a trend when it said this year that the race to secure farmland overseas risked creating a “neo-colonial” system.

The Saudi Arabia-based Binladin Group is expected to wrap up a feasibility study by the end of this year on investment in a massive food business program that will be located primarily in the eastern part of Indonesia, a senior official says.

South Korea's Daewoo Logistics will plant corn in Madagascar, a company official said on Tuesday, with a long-term aim to replace more than half the corn it currently imports from mostly the United States.

West Java governor Ahmad Heryawan said his province will become one of the many regions targeted by the Binladin Group for investment in food production.

On the heels of tight crop production reports and the recent memory of individual nations experiencing food disruptions, there is a scramble to control or own agricultural assets and food stocks.