Increasing Agricultural Productivity:
Encouraging Foreign Direct Investments in the COMCEC Region
66
Figure 29: Sample of Outward Agricultural FDI by GCC Investors 2008-2011
Source: Alpen Capital, 2011.
Qatar officials have been receptive to look into the strategic option of engaging in agricultural
FDI. Hassad Food, the agricultural investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, in 2012
announced plans to invest €500m over the coming year to acquire agricultural land and agro-
processing facilities overseas, following €2 billion in similar investments in 2011.88 Targeted
countries include Turkey, Argentina, Kenya, Brazil, and Ukraine. According to Mohamed Ahmed
al Obaidly, head of the agricultural and environment committee at the Qatar Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, Qatar has already invested some €6 billion in food security outside the
country. 89 These investments include creation of a 75:25 joint venture between Hassad Food
and the Sudanese government in 2009, with an initial capital of $100m, which plans to invest $1
bn to cultivate 250,000 hectares in the northern part of the country. According to Hassad
Chairman Nasser al-Hajri, efforts were underway to set up similar joint ventures in Brazil, the
United States, Turkey, and Argentina – and many of those investments have already taken
place. 90
Jenaan, a private company based in Abu Dhabi, has invested more than $500m to lease farmland
in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, and plans to invest a further $500m by 2015. These
88 Bloomberg (2012), “Qatar's Hassad eyes $625m spend on food supplies,” May 27, 2012.
89 ArabianBusiness.com September 21, 2011
city-421567.html
90 Gulf Times (2009), “Qatar's Hassad signs $100m agri deal with Sudan,” October 27, 2009.