Three major multi-billion Shariah-based projects to boost infrastructure, agriculture and hospitality sectors in GCC and elsewhere in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia were launched here yesterday.

Qudra Holding plans to buy about 400,000 hectares of land in the Middle East, Africa and the Far East by the first quarter of 2009 to boost its agriculture operations, reported The National.

Three new investment funds controlled by prominent Gulf investors will sink at least US$2.8 billion (Dh10.3 bn) into infrastructure, agriculture and hospitality projects in the Middle East and South Asia.

"Initially we asked the Africans how much they wanted in rent. They said it's free, just share the food with us. We made a deal that we only pay $1 per year per acre in rent. At the start we didn't promote the idea because we didn't want people to say we were grabbing land."

"Depuis quelques mois, nous observons un regain d'intérêt pour nos terres, des acheteurs s'emparent de très grandes surfaces acquises avec des facilités dérangeantes, dans la zone du lac de Guiers, par exemple", affirme Ndiogou Fall, sénégalais et président exécutif de la Roppa

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.

Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to Brazilian capital Brasília, Mohamad Amin Ali Kurdi, wants to promote the flow of investments between his country and Brazil. The ambassador even proposed the idea of establishment of an agribusiness multinational with Saudi investment, Brazilian know-how and land and possible future participation by companies in other countries.

Al Qudra Holding, the Abu Dhabi-based investment company, plans to acquire roughly 400,000 hectares of land in the Middle East, East Africa and Far East by the end of the first quarter of next year in a major expansion of its agricultural operations.

Oil-giant Saudi Arabia plans to set up a new investment fund to buy agricultural land overseas in an effort to meet rising food demand in the Middle East’s largest economy, a Saudi official said.

8In a bid to ensure its long-term food security, Bahrain is negotiating a series of import agreements and investing in farmland in South East Asia.

Three of the Gulf's biggest financial house has teamed up to launch three investment vehicles worth $10 billion (Dh36.7bn). The 'strategic' alliance between Gulf Finance House, Ithmaar Bank and Abu Dhabi Investment House covers the infrastructure, agricultural and hospitality sectors and are expected to bring return on investments in 18 months. The agricultural fund is considering Australia, China, the Philippies, India and North African countries for food production and livestock.

“We are investing in land in Sudan, Pakistan and Egypt to secure food supplies without being at the mercy of market fluctuations,” Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, said at a conference in Dubai yesterday.