Saudi Agriculture & Livestock Co. (SALIC), a unit of the country's Public Investment Fund, and Al Dahra, the UAE's biggest agricultural company, entered into a 5 billion-riyal (Dh4.9bn) joint venture agreement to develop land for food in the Black Sea region.
The venture, which is owned equally by both countries, was created with the aim of supplying Saudi Arabia with grains. The kingdom ended its domestic wheat production in 2016.
"We want to supply the market with grain and animal feed and we will target the countries in the Black Sea," Abdullah Aldubaikhi, chief executive officer of Salic, told reporters on the sidelines of a UAE-Saudi Arabian business forum on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.
"We are part of the food security of Saudi Arabia. We need to import all our grain. The project has a paid-up capital of 5 billion riyals and may be increased."
The new venture will bring together the assets of both companies Mr. Aldubaikhi said. Already, the companies together have assets in Black Sea countries that include Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Serbia, he said.
"Saudi Arabia has huge demand, it's a big market, the target of this is to serve and supply Saudi Arabia because they need commodities, from grain to animal feed," said Khadim A. Al Darei, co-founder and vice chairman of Al Dhahra, said at the conference.
It wasn't immediately clear though whether the joint venture was an amalgamation of the two companies and if they would just supply Saudi Arabia but the UAE too.
Mr Aldubaikhi said that Salic had signed a $100 million agreement with RZ Agro, a Russian company, last week in Russia during the Saudi king's visit to Russia.
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GCC exposed to food security risks from maritime choke points
Security of food supply paramount for Arabian Gulf region
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When it comes to food, the GCC region is vulnerable to supply shocks because of the instability in the region.
Imports account for between 80 and 90 per cent of food consumption in the GCC, where food self-sufficiency is unattainable because of the high temperature, low rainfall and scarce renewable freshwater sources.
Events such as the 2011 uprisings, political instability in Egypt and Syria, food price spikes and Iran’s threats to close the Strait of Hormuz have heightened risks, according to analysts at Chatham House, an independent policy institute based in London.
Al Dahra said earlier this year that it will spend about US$130 million in 2017 on acquiring and developing land for food security projects around the world. The company specialises in the cultivation, production and trading of food commodities. It has a long-standing partnership with the Abu Dhabi Government and is planning to expand its holdings in Serbia, where it has 1,000 hectares of land and plans to expand its purchases there to reach 20,000 hectares.
As well as land in Egypt and Serbia, Al Dahra has 4,047 hectares in the US, 4,047 hectares in Spain and 2,023 Hectares in Australia. The focus of the UAE’s food security projects is to ensure a steady supply of basic staples such as wheat and rice.
The UAE is one of the world’s largest consumers of rice per capita, with overall consumption expected to hit 836,000 tonnes during the 2016-17 marketing year, a year-on-year increase of 16 per cent, according to the foreign agriculture service of the US department of agriculture.
Over 1,000 participants came to the UAE and Saudi Arabian forum to discuss of enhancing economic co-operation between the two countries, especially in fields that promote diversification away from oil revenues as part of their long-term plans.
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Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
Match info:
Wolves 1
Boly (57')
Manchester City 1
Laporte (69')
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Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
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Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
MWTC info
Tickets to the MWTC range from Dh100 and can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ae or by calling 800 86 823 from within the UAE or 971 4 366 2289 from outside the country and all Virgin Megastores. Fans looking to attend all three days of the MWTC can avail of a special 20 percent discount on ticket prices.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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