JEDDAH: The UAE and Saudi Arabia will continue to invest in acquiring farmland abroad as part of their strategy to secure food supplies, officials from the two Gulf states said Tuesday. “In Saudi we have given a priority to water security and therefore are phasing out the production of water-intensive crops and as part our security strategy we are encouraging the private sector to invest in agriculture abroad,” Fahad Balghunaim, the Kingdom's agriculture minister, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event in Abu Dhabi. He added: “We don't have one place or region we are targeting for these land leases, I can promise you that we will be everywhere in the world.” In April, Riyadh set up a company with a capital of $800 million to invest in farmland abroad, focusing on wheat, rice, sugar and soyabeans. Saudi Industrial Development Fund is granting financing facilities to firms exploring agricultural investments abroad. Saudi firms also launched farmland investment abroad ranging from Indonesia to Ethiopia. The UAE is also leasing land abroad as well as increasing investment to promote local agriculture. “It's a top priority for us right now to secure food supplies in the UAE and we are looking at both investing abroad and also new technology which can help us increase our production locally,” UAE's Environment and Water Minister Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahd said.
