In the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al Fadhli and His Excellency the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries, Dr. Ronald Kiandee, SALIC hosted on Thursday in Riyadh the Saudi-Malaysian Private Sector Meeting to discuss areas of cooperation and investment opportunities in the food security sector.

During the meeting, SALIC Board Chairman H. E. Eng. Abdulrahman Al Fadhli stressed the importance of cooperation and discussing investment opportunities for the private sector between the two countries according to the comparative advantage of each side, besides the need for joint coordination to follow up on such initiatives. For his part, the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries underlined the fact that the Malaysia’s Food Security Strategy targets producing a group of essential commodities to achieve self-sufficiency such as Rice, Meat and Corn. It also harnesses the comparative advantage of palm oil production and exports it to various countries.

In the same context, the CEO of SALIC Group, Eng. Sulaiman bin Abdulrahman Alrumaih, confirmed that SALIC is working with the private sector in the Kingdom to study the establishing of a regional center for storing oils on the west coast. He also indicated that it is an opportunity for the Malaysian side to benefit from the center as a distribution point for Malaysian oils in the region.

In addition, the Saudi-Malaysian private sector meeting addressed several subjects related to food security, such as the production and transportation of palm oils, fish and grains.