Saudi Arabia is seeking $20 billion in investments in the food industry by 2035, the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources announced.
The Kingdom also aims to double the value of exports from $3.7 billion in 2022 to $10.9 billion in 2035, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The investment will be used to develop the food industry in the Kingdom, including the dairy, bakery, sweets, and beverages sectors, SPA reported citing Minister Bandar al-Khorayef.
The ministry also plans to “maximize the value of a number of agricultural crops in which the Kingdom has comparative advantages,” the SPA report said.
“These goals are in line with the objectives of the National Industrial Strategy, which seeks to increase the sustainable growth of the food industries,” it added.
Citing al-Khorayef, SPA reported that the ministry is working on several projects, including a $1.2 billion expansion project by Almarai Company to increase its poultry production capacity, a $120 million poultry products factory by Arab Seara Food Industries, and a $133 million canned tuna project, which is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Khorayef reportedly said that these investments will create more than 4,000 new job opportunities in the food industry sector.
He also reportedly added that the investments will also help to develop the local content in the food industry and promote exports of Saudi food products to regional and global markets.
The Kingdom has ramped up its push into agriculture after the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent food prices to a record, upended trade flows and laid bare the fragility of the world’s supply chains.
The desert nation, which sources most of its food from abroad, has embarked on an agricultural deal spree in recent years after Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) purchased a majority stake in the former Canadian Wheat Board in 2015.
In December, SALIC bought a $1.24 billion stake in Singapore-based agricultural trader Olam Agri Holdings. A month earlier, the Saudi firm agreed to buy a 9.2 percent stake in Indian rice producer LT Foods Ltd. Salic has also partnered with Brazilian meatpacker Minerva SA to acquire slaughterhouses and a lamb processor in Australia after buying farmland there.
