Iraq to seek Saudi expertise
Arab News 30 December 1988


Riyadh—Iraq is willing to encourage Saudi agricultural companies in managing its farms and to benefit from Saudi experience with large, intensive cultivation, according to a leading Saudi farmer. It is also seeking Saudi Investments.

"The Iraqis are ready to provide land and extend aid in project management, "Turki Faisal Al Rasheed, president of Riyadh's Golden Grass, Inc., told Arab News. His company was represented by Faharan Al Sadeed in a 200-member delegation organized jointly by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and its Gulf counterpart that visited Baghdad last month.

The delegates held talks at the ministries of trade, agriculture and labor as well as with the president of Iraq's central Bank and the general manager of the Agricultural Bank. The discussions, he said, opened up the possibility of a transfer of Saudi agricultural expertise into Iraq. He hoped that the Kingdom will utilize the opportunity by extending credit facilities to the agricultural companies.

Turk cited in support of his statement a DM 200 million credit facility allowed by the GDR to enable Iraq to purchase heavy trucks, a $ 1 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. for the import of agricultural commodities from that country, and a $700 million export credit from the U.K.

He said Saudi Arabian experience on the farm front is relevant to Iraq in view of he similarity of climatic conditions. Moreover, the Kingdom has evolved a unique mix of large-scale and intensive cultivation to maximize farm output. The result is a record wheat production from 3,000 tons in 1978 to 2.5 million tons last year.

"to achieve this, the Kingdom had to spend something like SR 70 billion during the last four five-year plans and undertake a lot of research. We are thus in a commanding position to share our expertise and know how with other countries." Turki said.

Elaborating, he pointed out that some Saudi farmers are managing 1,600 hectares with just 16 employees. "With one center pivot (of 500-meter radius) we produce five million kilos of potatoes. If you multiply this figure by the hundreds of center pivots installed in the Kingdom, you have an idea of the enormous potential output of potatoes alone."

Such a high yield, according to Turki, dictates two courses of action: Exports to the Arab World, where farm output is declining, and moving into downstream projects for the processing of agricultural output. Both options are viable, he said, referring to the recent donation by the Kingdom of 200,000 tons of wheat to Egypt.