RIYADH: The Kingdom will set up a world-class center to disseminate information on new developments in agriculture and to help potential investors locate sustainable projects, Minister of Agriculture Fahd Balghunaim said yesterday.
The minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of a four-day workshop in Riyadh to discuss the modalities of the proposed National Center for Agricultural Information. The event was jointly organized by the newly created Agricultural Development Fund, the Ministry of Agriculture and Wageningen University of the Netherlands, which boasts an internationally acclaimed institute of agriculture.
The Dutch institute has teamed up with the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture and the Agriculture Development Fund to set up the national information center, said Mohsen Al-Bahaie, agricultural attaché at the Netherlands Embassy.
He said the center would provide information useful for the private sector. "Wageningen University has for the fourth consecutive year topped the list of 14 Dutch universities in the "Guide to Choosing Higher Education," said Al-Bahaie.
Balghunaim said the Kingdom's thriving agriculture sector continued to record a healthy growth of eight percent annually, fueled by an increasing demand for food and food products by a rapidly growing population.
"The Kingdom still ranks as the largest market in the Middle East for all sorts of agriculture products and technologies," said the minister, referring to the SR20 billion Agriculture Development Fund that was approved by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah last week.
The fund will be utilized to support and sustain agricultural development by offering soft loans and credit. The move is significant as the Kingdom plans to set up ambitious agriculture projects both inside the country and overseas. The Saudi government's support for the agriculture sector has, in turn, spurred a sizable increase in domestic and international investment, which sharply surged in 2008 and is expected to reach SR181 billion in 2009 in various sectors out of which 23 percent is focused primarily on agricultural projects.
Speaking on the sidelines of the workshop, Abdulrahman Al-Jeraisy, chairman of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, underscored the center's importance.
Al-Jeraisy said the center would be helpful for investors and farmers to market their products. He also called for formulating productive marketing plans that match the needs and tastes of consumers.
The center will provide information and technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, extension agents, educators and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the Kingdom.
The center will go a long way in helping policy planners and investors, and serve as a storehouse for all relevant statistics and indicators, which would eventually be of great help for one and all, especially investors, in the Kingdom and abroad.
