Saudi Arabia

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) wants to create exclusive economic zones for agribusiness that would take into consideration the nuances of food production and an expanded set of incentives for locators.

Several Arab investors visited this city last week in a mission to look for potential agriculture business in Mindanao where they can pour their investments.

The fact that President Jakaya Kikwete accepted an invitation to Saudi Arabia recently to discuss the possibility of farmland allocation is important, as it means that Tanzania is attentive to the proposal.

The Philippine government has invited visiting investors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to invest in the halal food industry, said Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap. "They have the fund...we have to find a way to convince them to invest in the Philippines," he said.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said corporate executives representing the big agricultural businesses in Saudi Arabia have raised concerns about the Philippine agrarian reform and limiting foreign land ownership as they indicated interest in acquiring tracts of plantation land and poultry farms.

Over a million hectares of Philippines farmland will be made available to foreign and local investors in a bid to boost agriculture productivity.

The Philippines and Bahrain have begun discussions on a possible agribusiness project in Mindanao covering an initial area of 10,000 hectares that is expected to create some 20,000 jobs, officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.

The Philippine government yesterday proposed investment opportunities in the agriculture sector for Saudi Arabians to ensure the supply of agriculture commodities and develop idle government lands.

Russian grain processing firm PAVA plans a farmland investment road show across the Gulf region over the next two months and is open to selling shares to Middle East investors as it aims to triple the land under its control.

Our government is planning to offer Arab investors legislative cover to protect them from changes in the government, but hardly any attention has yet been given to the need for protecting poor labourers who will be working for Arab corporate agriculture companies

Agricultural investment in Sudan by Arab countries looking to guarantee supplies of staples such as wheat for their people will account for up to 50 percent of all investment in the country from 2010

A delegation from Saudi Arabia is set to arrive in Manila next week to explore possible investments in the country's farm sector