Kuwait eyes Asian food supply, agri investments
DUBAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Kuwait is talking with Asian
countries about securing food supplies and investing in
agriculture as the Gulf state looks to diversify its sources of
food, state news agency KUNA reported on Saturday.
It said food imports was a key topic on a trip by Prime
Minister Shiekh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah to eight Asian
countries to boost trade ties.
And a delegation including the Kuwait Investment Authority,
a sovereign wealth fund, will visit Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar
later this month to look at investments in agriculture and
industry, KUNA quoted finance minister Mustapha al-Shamali as
saying.
The delegation will include the Kuwait Fund for Arab
Economic Development and Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakery Co,
Shamali said.
"A Kuwaiti delegation will be visiting these three
countries as of the 19th of this month to get better acquainted
with their laws and regulations, and to explore opportunities
for real estate, industrial and agricultural investments," KUNA
said.
Referring to this month's trip to Asia by Sheikh Nasser,
KUNA reported: "One of the main topics discussed was food
imports from these countries as a means for securing food
supply, facilitating Kuwaiti energy supply to them, as well as
cooperation in oil exploration and the agricultural field."
Kuwait's cooperative union said last month the Gulf state, a
largely desert nation, was interested in investing in farmland
abroad to help secure food supplies.
Inflation in the world's seventh-largest oil exporter has
hit records above 11 percent this year, driven by higher food
and housing costs. Kuwait imports most of its food.
Other states in the world's biggest oil-exporting region are
also looking abroad to secure food supplies.
The Saudi government is negotiating on behalf of Saudi
investors to set up projects in Sudan, Egypt, Ukraine, Pakistan
and Turkey for wheat, barley, soy bean, rice and animal fodder.
The KIA plans to as much as triple its investments in Japan
to $48 billion, KUNA reported earlier this month, quoting
Shamali, who said the investments follow an agreement to avoid
double taxation between the two countries.
Kuwait was also discussing boosting investments in South
Korea and looking into "cooperation in the oil and gas sector"
with Japan, Thailand and Brunei, KUNA said on Saturday, without
giving details.
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