Reassurance must be sown in foreign fields
- Financial Times
- 27 April 2009
Saudi officials I have spoken to seem to be aware of the minefields their schemes could ignite.
Saudi officials I have spoken to seem to be aware of the minefields their schemes could ignite.
Some Gulf countries may now be realising the importance of offering direct loans to African countries as a means to increase Arab investment.
Not a day goes by without new acreage being signed over. "For Sale" ads for agricultural property are now featured in the international financial press. And there's no dearth of clients.
"Je crois que les tensions seront inévitables où que ce soit, faisant des enclaves agricoles étrangères de véritables forteresses assiégées."
African states have actively encouraged Gulf investors into areas like agriculture, seeing them as a useful counterweight to China’s influence.
The Kenyan government is considering leasing a large tract of land in the Tana River Delta in eastern Kenya to Qatar's government. In return, Qatar would build a port in the seaside town of Lamu.
Growing crops for strangers, of course, is nothing new. The long, grim march of colonialism was driven by Europe’s penchant for sugar, tea, tobacco and other crops that don’t flourish in northern climes. But as climate change and growing populations put ever more pressure on the earth, state-backed searches for land and food contracts as part of a national food-security strategy strike many as fundamentally new.
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund will turn its focus to commodities - particularly food and energy - in the second half of 2009, a senior official said yesterday.
Cambodia's traditional sectors are foundering in the wake of the global financial crisis, but the Kingdom's farmlands could bring billions from Middle Eastern countries seeking food security.
Could the Middle East become a significant new source of offshore investment in Australia’s extensive northern cattle industry?
Perhaps the UN’s hand-wringing is just sentimental. Deals will be done and the rush to buy land has begun in Europe, too.
Investors of State of Qatar have expressed their interest for making investments in agriculture and fisheries sectors in coastal areas of Balochistan, and they will soon set up their industrial, agricultural and trade units in the coastal areas of the province.
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