His Excellency the Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture “MEWA” and Chairman of SALIC (Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company), Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, witnessed the signing ceremony of SALIC’s acquisition of a 42.4% stake in the National Aquaculture Group “Naqua” at the Ministry’s headquarters on Sunday, June 11, 2023, in the presence of officials from both companies.
On this milestone, His Excellency stated that the strategic partnership between SALIC and Naqua will contribute to achieving the country’s Vision 2030 goals, to ensure the sustainability of the country’s vital resources. The partnership aligns the objectives of the Public Investment Fund and its portfolio companies as a key driver for the local economic growth through building long-term partnership with the private sector. As SALIC will leverage its partnership with Naqua to foster the development and enhancement of the local aquaculture sector with the aim of enabling the local aquaculture production, which will contribute to both direct and indirect job creation. His Excellency added that this acquisition is in line with SALIC’s strategic objectives, which include achieving national food security targets and enablement of the local agricultural food sector through increasing local production that will contribute to the improvement of the Nation’s balance deficit.
The Chairman of Naqua, Dr. Ziad bin Othman Al-hogail, affirmed that this investment of SALIC represents a strategic alliance that will re-enforce the quality and sustainability of Naqua’s aquaculture operations, which are at the core of its institutional culture and brand. Al-hogail stated, “We will work together to achieve our common goals in the field of Food Security and create added economic value for our partners and customers within and outside the Kingdom. Naqua, since its inception, has consistently applied latest technologies and practices for its activities in shrimp, fish, sea cucumber, and fish feed.”
Naqua is SALIC’s second investment in the aquaculture sector following the ownership transfer of Saudi Fisheries Company’s 39.99% stake from the Public Investment Fund to SALIC in March 2021, with the objective of driving aquaculture growth as well as enabling and advancing SALIC’s role as the investment arm for the Public Investment Fund in the food and agriculture sector. And given the vast experience in investment-management across the food and agriculture sector, SALIC is considered one of the main contributors to the re-enforcement of the Kingdom’s Food Security.
