Chaired by H.E. Mr. Ali Bin Saeed Al-Sharhan, President of the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID), the founding committee of the Arab agricultural holding company held its 4th meeting in the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh, K.S.A., on Saturday, 19th December, 2009.

After welcoming the honorable members of the Founding Committee, H.E. Mr. Al-Sharhan expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to H.E. Dr. / Suleiman Bin Mohammed Al-Turki, member of the Board of Directors of AAAID, and to the Ministry of Finance, K.S.A., for the spirit of cooperation, seriousness, and keenness towards establishing the company, hoping that those efforts lead to success. The agenda of the meeting was then discussed. The meeting took a number of decisions and proposals pertaining to the organizational and financial aspects of the company, such as technical teams and anticipated shareholders in addition to the current founders.

It is worth mention that the establishment of this company came in accordance with the directives and resolutions of the Board of Shareholders of AAAID, and the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed by H.E. the President of AAAID with Tabuk Company for Agricultural Development, Janat Investment Company, in addition to other companies and investors, to establish an agricultural investment company to contribute in achieving Arab food security and strengthening the role of the private sector in achieving sustainable development in the Arab world. The objective of the company is to invest in the areas of agricultural production, both plant and animal, agricultural processing, agricultural services, and financing and agricultural marketing, in the Arab and Muslim countries in accordance with comparative advantage for investment, giving priority to the production of grains and fodder. It also aims at developing the productive capabilities of smallholder and medium-sized producers, the transfer of advanced agricultural technology, as well as contributing to the development of infrastructure which supports agricultural handling and marketing.