Divergent views emerge on GCC expansion plan
- Arab News
- 12 May 2011
The GCC states, debating the possible inclusion of Jordan and Morocco, can tap into the large swaths of fertile agricultural lands of both nations says Abdul Hadi Al-Habtoor
The GCC states, debating the possible inclusion of Jordan and Morocco, can tap into the large swaths of fertile agricultural lands of both nations says Abdul Hadi Al-Habtoor
Qatar will make more investments overseas to produce key agricultural and horticultural commodities to ensure food supply security at home and will simultaneously focus on raising self-sufficiency in local produce.
Report says that GCC investment in farmland in Africa and Latin America will continue to grow.
The UAE and other GCC member countries should draw up a unified food security strategy with the bloc, and not individual countries, investing in farms abroad to minimise risks of political blackmail.
Pakistan Foreign Minister says there is a win-win situation in combining Pakistan's richness in agriculture with the GCC's richness in energy resources.
A handful of North African countries, along with Iraq and Sudan, could feed the Gulf.
MOU signed with Perigon Advisory to launch a RM3 billion agribusiness fund to promote food security in the OIC and generate returns for its investors.
Due to the food security issues currently plaguing Arab nations, the project is generating immense interest among GCC investors, says Malaysian official.
Gulf governments have focused almost exclusively on controlling land where food is grown, investing in projects and buying land in North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and central Asia. Perhaps the better strategy would be to look for food closer to home.
News of the deal has aroused very vehement protest from the Sudanese Farmer’s Union and the tenants in the Gezira Scheme.
Gulf nations need to step up investments in African and South East Asian farmland if the region is to play its part in averting a global food crisis, agriculture experts say.
The participants will explore emerging trends in agriculture in GCC states and Africa and debate on how to turn them into mutually beneficial business relations between the two sides.
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