Meeting promotes agriculture in Jizan Province

Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz opened in Riyadh on January 15 a forum on agricultural investment in Jizan Province and the Tihama coastal plain. The objective of the forum was to study ways of promoting agriculture in the region, and also to familiarize the public, particularly businesses and investors, with the steps taken by the government to make investing in this area more lucrative. 

In his address to the opening session, Crown Prince Abdullah referred to the fertility of this land and the abundance of water available, saying all agricultural investment projects in this region have great promise. He stressed two points. First, that the Kingdom has taken a strategic decision to attract both domestic and foreign investment by providing every incentive, guarantee and facility. He gave assurances that officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), as well as those of all other authorities concerned, have been instructed to respond to all queries and requests in an efficient and expedient manner. The other point is that Saudi Arabia, with its existing and potential natural resources, its political and social security and stability, its increasing population, and its extensive consumer market, represents an ideal investment environment to those who seek profitable business. 

Director of SAGIA Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki remarked that direct investment has become the greatest booster of economic growth. He drew attention to Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure, its strong currency, powerful banking sector and successful foreign relations throughout the world. 

Minister of Agriculture Dr. Abdullah bin Muammar, in a review of the Kingdom’s agricultural achievements, noted that the value of domestic agricultural products had risen from only 994 million Saudi riyals (265.06 million U.S. dollars) in 1990 to about 34.6 billion riyals (9.22 billion dollars) in 2000, and that over that period the agricultural sector’s contribution to the gross national product (GNP) for the non-petroleum sector rose from 3.7 to 10.3 percent. The Kingdom, he said, has attained self-sufficiency in several categories of foodstuffs, including wheat, eggs, dairy products and certain vegetables, as well as in dates. 

Minister of Commerce Osama Faqih spoke of the Kingdom’s desire for diversification of the economic base and its encouragement of private sector initiatives through the provision of a strong infrastructure, soft financing, and appropriate incentives. He remarked that attracting investment to agriculture fits well with the objectives of the current Seventh Five-Year Development Plan (2000-4) and enhances Saudi Arabia’s status in global trade. The Kingdom, he said, is 13th among commodity exporters and 25th in the list of importers. In 2000, its global trade amounted to 438 billion riyals (116.8 billion dollars), with a surplus of 192 billion riyals (51.2 billion dollars).  

Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Jacques Diouf told participants in the forum that his organization is stepping up its cooperation with the Kingdom, which it began in 1950. Since 1981, he said, FAO has successfully implemented four agreements with Saudi Arabia on technological cooperation and signed the fifth of these five-year agreements in November 2001. 

At an open debate held on the second day of the forum, SAGIA’s Prince Abdullah and a number of ministers and government officials discussed the potential of investment in Jizan Province and the Tihama coastal plain. 

Minister of Agriculture Dr. Mu’ammar told participants that as part of his ministry’s efforts to promote agriculture in this region, it is offering soft loans to low-income farmers, and is also building ten new water reservoirs in the region to add to the four existing dams. He also referred to a fishery project along a 500-mile stretch of coastline of the Red Sea that incorporates nine fish hatcheries, and said the Kingdom currently produces 150,000 tons of fish a year, meeting only 43 percent of the local demand. This leaves abundant room for growth in the fisheries sector, in which the government is encouraging private investment. Ahmed Rasheed Balla’a of the National Company for Shrimp Production said a new 500-million-dollar project for shrimp production has already been launched that will begin production in 2003. 

Minister of Finance and National Economy Dr. Al-Assaf said the region is attractive for investors because in addition to the fertile soil and abundant water supplies, it also boasts an excellent work force. He added that a new coastal highway linking Jizan with Jeddah will facilitate more efficient marketing of the increased volume of agricultural products in the region. 

Addressing the forum’s session on the incentives offered by the government to encourage greater foreign investment, SAGIA’s Dr. Salem Al-Qahtani summarized the main aspects of the Saudi economy, which, he said, has become attractive to foreign investments, citing exemptions from custom tariffs for raw materials and goods essential to production.