Saudi Arabia

"Madagascar ne doit pas vendre son eau douce"
- Courrier International
- 02 October 2009
Le parti vert malgache n'est pas contre l'accès à la terre des étrangers, mais il faut que l'Etat s'occupe des Malgaches d'abord.
No land deal with any country, food ministry tells LHC
- Dawn
- 30 September 2009
The proposals for farmland acquisitions by countries such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar are at a pre-feasibility stage and no commitment has been made so far, the government of Pakistan told the High Court of Lahore
Saudi Arabia eyes special relationship with RI: Envoy
- Jakarta Post
- 30 September 2009
“Our people have already surveyed several areas to choose the right place for planting basmati rice. The investment will be huge,” says Ambassador Khayyat.
Hearing against sale of land to foreigners put off
- Daily Times
- 30 September 2009
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif postponed until October 6 the hearing of a petition challenging the proposed sale or lease of millions of acres of agriculture land to foreign countries.
Asian Human Rights Commission: People’s sovereignty threatened as government pushes ahead plan to sell land to foreigners
- Asian Human Rights Commission
- 25 September 2009
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the government to seriously reconsider its plan to sell land to Saudi Arabia and other foreign investors, taking into account the welfare of hundreds of thousands of peasants whose livelihood will be directly affected.
Food pirates are expanding their tentacles, Pakistan an easy target
- Ground Reality
- 24 September 2009
The 'Food Pirates' are fast expanding their network, their reach and their control over land. And it is happening fast in our own neighbourhood, writes Devinder Sharma.
RP as Saudi Arabia’s “food hub” hit, GMA accused of engaging in real estate business
- Anakpawis
- 23 September 2009
“We expect this impending land-lease deal with Saudi Arabia, courtesy of global land-grabbing’s No. 1 puppet in Asia, to displace thousands of farmers and agricultural workers. Ms Arroyo is selling out the country’s national patrimony under the guise of multi-million dollar investment packages,” Anakpawis party-list Representative Rafael Mariano said.
Saudi firms see Philippines as food production hub in the Far East
- Philippine Government
- 22 September 2009
Ten Saudi Arabian agricultural companies wants to make the Philippines their food production hub and distribution center in the Far East.
Pakistan: Will land leases worsen hunger at home?
- IRIN
- 22 September 2009
Fears have been raised of a possible increase in food insecurity in Pakistan if a deal to lease out 202,342.8 hectares of farmland to Saudi Arabia goes ahead.
Saudi threat to India's basmati
- India Today
- 22 September 2009
"The real worry is that IRRI may help Saudi Arabia produce aromatic rice varieties in Pakistan where these countries have bought large tracts of lands," food policy commentator Devinder Sharma said. "India and Pakistan are already bitter rivals in the Basmati export segment."
Corporate farming
- Dawn
- 18 September 2009
During Pervez Musharraf’s time, Beijing had proposed that it be leased 2,000 acres of land for a period of 10 to 15 years with the agreement that China would make technological and financial investments in the land, invest in newer forms of seeds and other products and leave the new infrastructure to the state or the owners after the termination of the contract.
The business of land
- The News
- 17 September 2009
It is unfortunate that even as deals that involve land which should belong to the people of Pakistan are struck, there has been so little public debate about the plan. We need to be informed of what is planned. Protests need too to be mobilized. In the prevailing political environment of Pakistan, the people who stand to lose the most have almost no spokesmen.