Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's Hail Agricultural Development Co (Hadco) said on Monday it would look at investing in Turkey and Kazakhstan after moving into Sudan under a government plan to ensure steady food imports.

Saudi private sector company Hail Agricultural Development Co (Hadco) has picked Sudan for its first investment in farming abroad under a Saudi government scheme to ensure steady food imports, it said.

A group of Saudi businessmen have planned to invest over SR1 billion [USD267m] in agricultural projects in Ethiopia and Sudan on a staggered schedule within next few years.

With vast tracts of land being sold in Madagascar, and Sudan and other African governments actively seeking investors in agricultural land, are we witnessing a neo-colonial land grab or will the investment result in greater food productivity to the long-term benefit of recipient nations?

In an exclusive telephone interview during her visit to Riyadh on Tuesday, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo focused on measures by her country to strengthen economic ties with the Kingdom.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday that he is sending a high-level business mission to the Philippines in April to look for investment opportunities in the Philippine agriculture sector.

First cargo of rice arrives in oil-rich kingdom amid mixed feelings over business ethics.

According to Nograles the vision of the political leaders of Mindanao is that if the 26,000 hectares of contiguous agricultural land can be developed in the joint venture partnership with the Saudi chamber of commerce, a lease agreement could gurantee 50 years of food security for the Kingdom.

Local farmers have protested against the government’s initiative to invite foreign investors in corporate farming, thus allowing them to take 100 per cent of the yield.

Saudi Arabia, one of the world's biggest rice importers, has received the first batch of rice to be produced abroad by local investors, state news agency SPA reported on Monday.

The Saudi Arabian cabinet on Monday decided to establish a $5.3-billion fund to support agricultural development by offering soft loans and necessary credit facilities, the Saudi daily newspaper Saudi Gazette reported.

Speaker Nograles pushed for Saudi-Philippines partnership to develop some 26,000 ha of government property in Central Mindanao into a major agri-industrial production and processing complex.