Saudi Arabia

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

Rattled by last year's food price crisis, governments and corporations have signed a slew of deals to lease or buy arable land in cash-strapped nations, mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The Ernst & Young office in Addis is currently advising several investors from the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, who are investing tens of millions of dollars in the agro industry in Ethiopia.

The Philippines has offered to become a major source of agricultural products to Saudi Arabia ahead of a planned visit by the kingdom’s agricultural minister Fahd Balghunaim, Arab News reported on Wednesday.

“African countries have not been in a reasonable bargaining position,” AU Agriculture Commissioner Rhoda Peace Tumusiime told Reuters in an interview at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. “The pace of the trend was very fast and they didn’t envisage that there should be benefits to the community.”

Saudi officials I have spoken to seem to be aware of the minefields their schemes could ignite.

Saudi Arabia's desire to secure its sources of food for its citizens by establishing overseas joint ventures in food production has received a positive response from a Philippine trade delegation.