Cambodia

Gulf nations now are quietly scouring the globe for rich farmland to rent or buy outright.

Contract on the investment of rubber and agro-industry plantation between the Govt of Cambodia and KCD (SOCFIN) of 8 October 2008

Once committed largely to perceived safe-haven investments in the United States, Gulf nations are now looking to send their petrodollar surpluses towards a more exotic global destination: Southeast Asian farmland.

8Natural gas exporter Qatar and Vietnam have set up a US$1 billion fund to invest in sectors including agriculture. Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority will provide 90% of the fund's equity, Gulf Times reported, citing Phung The Long, Vietnam's Ambassador to Doha. "We have exchange ideas about setting up an animal farm for breeding cattle and lambs," The Long said.

A Kuwaiti delegation last week met with the Myanmar cabinet and industry officials to discuss investment in the agricultural sector.

It is becoming harder for Koreans to buy grain, regardless of price. That is why the government is hurrying to cultivate overseas crops and to secure stable import sources.

L'Etat cède 880000 hectares de terre arable pour 670 millions d'euros. Publiée mi-août par le Financial Times, l'annonce du gouvernement soudanais n'est plus vraiment une nouveauté. Comme d'autres avant lui, le pays est prêt à céder un territoire presque aussi grand que l'Ile-de-France à des investisseurs étrangers trop contents de s'exécuter.

In Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, His Highness the Prime Minister od Kuwait’s visit was of great importance given the promising financial investment opportunities in those nations. One of the main topics discussed was food imports from these countries as a means for securing food supply, facilitating a Kuwaiti energy supply to them, as well as cooperation in oil exploration and the agricultural field.

A bilateral agricultural venture between Cambodia and Kuwait proposed during an official visit by Kuwait's prime minister left Cambodia very positive about future cooperation, Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said yesterday.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that he would visit the Gulf states of Kuwait and Qatar in January to discuss rice exports in a bid to corner the Gulf market. His announcement came one day after Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Saba ended a three-day visit to Cambodia and discussed swapping his country’s technical assistance for arable land for cultivation of quality rice for Kuwait.

Kuwait is eyeing Cambodian farmland for investment in agriculture to produce food supply for the state, a minister said yesterday.

Kuwait’s premier has advised Prime Minister Hun Sen to turn Cambodia into an agricultural powerhouse to speed the Kingdom’s development.