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Saudi Arabia Adopts Measures to Strengthen Food Security

Image used for illustrative purpose. A farmer displays wheat grains at a field in the Beheira Governorate, Egypt May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Image used for illustrative purpose. A farmer displays wheat grains at a field in the Beheira Governorate, Egypt May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Saudi Arabia Adopts Measures to Strengthen Food Security

Image used for illustrative purpose. A farmer displays wheat grains at a field in the Beheira Governorate, Egypt May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Image used for illustrative purpose. A farmer displays wheat grains at a field in the Beheira Governorate, Egypt May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

The Saudi Agriculture Development Fund has approved several loans, worth over SR861 million ($229 million), to finance working capital for the import of agricultural products, within endeavors to strengthen food security in the Kingdom.

The Fund’s Vice Chairman and General Manager, Munir bin Fahd Al-Sahli, stated that the approval of the loans came by government directives to keep pace with current international developments, to ensure an abundance of stock and stability of supplies, and to avoid any disruption in supply chains.

The targeted agriculture crops include barley, maize and soybeans, he noted.

Saudi Arabia recently launched the Middle East Poultry Exhibition, under the slogan “Contributing to Strengthening Food Security” at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, with the participation of 150 companies from 30 countries in various sectors of the poultry industry.

Saudi Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Eng. Mansour bin Hilal Al-Mushaiti, said the government was keen on increasing investment in poultry production as part of a strategic plan to enhance food security and raise the proportion of local production of white meat.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Grains Organization announced the activation of the appointment-booking service through Mahsuli (My Crop) platform for the distribution of local wheat for the 2022 agricultural season.

Eng. Ahmed Al-Faris, the governor of the organization, stated that farmers can start the usual regular procedures through the platform to determine the location of the supply, book appointments, and inquire about the details of the received shipments.

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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.