UAE

UAE food processing and poultry group Iffco has justifiably ruffled some feathers in Australia. Earlier this year, Iffco acquired a 14.99 per cent stake in Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) from Futuris Corporation for AU$64.7 million (Dh171.6m). AAC is the largest beef cattle company in Australia, running around 500,000 beef cattle on 21 cattle stations comprising 8.2 million hectares.

Vision3, the promoter of AgriCap, the investment vehicle conceived to invest in visionary initiatives across the agriculture sector in the greater MENA region announced today that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises (TIGEM), a Turkish governmental agency falling under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Abu Dhabi's food imports increased considerably during the past two years as the cultivated area contracted and the level of self-sufficiency in several commodities and livestock went down, the emirate's Department of Planning and Economy has revealed. The department yesterday called for a strategic plan to achieve food security through an increase in agricultural investment outside the UAE, especially in Sudan.

Jordan will dispatch a delegation to Sudan next Thursday headed by its agriculture minister Saeed Al-Masri to discuss an agreement on developing food farms in the East African country, according to media reports.

African states have actively encouraged Gulf investors into areas like agriculture, seeing them as a useful counterweight to China’s influence.

Pakistan has offered UAE investors an opportunity to invest in corporate farming projects back home as a means to secure the UAE's food supplies.

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.

The United Arab Emirates plans to invest up to 700 billion US dollars in East Asia as the country had huge profits from soaring oil prices in recent years, Head of the Indonesian Capital Investment Coordinating Board Muhammad Lutfi said in Jakarta Thursday. Among the sectors for possible investment are energy, agriculture, tourism and 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.

Agribusiness in the Middle East countries hold out investment opportunities worth $3bn for Nigeria yearly.

A flock of 360 sheep imported from the UAE landed at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport Saturday, Ninh Thuan Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said.