An announcement of the formation of the Arab Agricultural Investment Holding Company was made on the margin of the annual joint meeting for the Arab financial institutions, hosted by Damascus, Syria, on Thursday 5 April 2010. The formation of the company comes as an effort to bridge the increasing food gap in the Middle East and North Africa.

H.E. Mr. Ali Bin Saeed Al-Sharhan, head of AAAID board of directors, head of the company’s establishment committee, said that part of the mission of the company was to locate the promising investment schemes in agricultural and continued nutrition projects that are profitable and that contribute to bridging the food gap.

H.E. clarified that the idea of setting up this company originated at the Arab financial institutions shareholders meeting, held in Sanaa, Yemen, in 2008. The purpose was to set up a company in the field of agricultural investment and the relevant studies were presented.

H.E president of AAAID, Mr. Ali Saeed Al-Sharhan added that capital of the Arab holding company is estimated to be around 180 million dollars and that the main line of work would be the farming of cereals, agricultural and animal manufacturing, agricultural services, trading in cereals across the world and building up an Arab cereal reserve. His Excellency mentioned that AAAID’s contribution  in the capital of the holding company, estimated to be 20% of the shares, represent all Arab states in addition to 4 private sector companies. He also drew the attention to the participation of a number of organizations and governments in this company , referring to the fact that the company will be located in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

His Highness Mr. Mustafa Jasim Al-Shamali, Kuwaiti minister of finance, praised the Arab Agricultural Investment Holding Company as a new venture that will play an effective role in the fields of agricultural investment and in the enhancement of Arab food security.