Serbia, UAE agree on large agriculture investment Category: Home, Industry News UK & World

22/10/12 www.b92.net

BELGRADE, ABU DHABI — A Serbian government delegation has completed its visit to Abu Dhabi by signing a memorandum of understanding with the United Arab Emirates.

The memorandum on cooperation in the field of agriculture, agro-industry and construction of irrigation systems was signed by Serbian Finance Minister Mlađan Dinkić, the Serbian Finance and Economy Ministry said in a release on Saturday.

A separate intergovernmental agreement with the United Arab Emirates should be signed over the coming months.

The agreement envisages joint investment in ten farms which are currently state-owned, and comprising about 9,000 hectares of arable land.

Signing several operating contracts with the Al Dahra corporation, a leading agro-industrial company in the United Arab Emirates, is also planned.

The Serbian government has pledged to offer full support to Al Dahra in taking over a port on the Danube, which should become a logistics center for exports of agricultural products from Serbia.

Funding for the modernization of the existing and construction of new irrigation canal network would be provided by the Emirates, while Serbia would repay the loan through a guaranteed multi-annual delivery of various agricultural products – wheat, corn, clover, meat, dairy products, semi-processed and finished food products to the UAE.

The agricultural products would be exported from Serbia to the UAE market and third markets by the Al Dahra company, according to the release.