USD 400 million agreement signed with Al Dahra

(Mladjan Dinkic and Khadim Abdullah Al Darei)

Finance and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic signed today in Abu Dhabi a USD 400 million agreement on joint investment in Serbia's agriculture with the world's leading agricultural company Al Dahra. A third of this investment will be utilized to buy the property of eight failed agricultural companies, whereas the rest will be used to put the land under irrigation, purchase up-to-date equipment and provide working capital for production and the construction of minimum five factories for producing animal feed, the Ministry of Finance said in a release.

- With USD 400 million contributed yesterday by the Abu Dhabi Development Fund and Al Dahra's investment of USD 400 million, we have secured a total of USD 800 million worth of investments in Serbia's agricultural sector - said Minister Dinkic.

- Serbia already produces much more food than our population needs. Our food exports are bigger than food imports. The arrival of Al Dahra is expected to boost productivity in the agricultural sector and make Serbia one of the main food exporters. This investment has no precedent in the past few decades - Minister Dinkic said after signing the agreement in Abu Dhabi.

According to the minister, Al Dahra is coming to Serbia as both manufacturer and large buyer of agricultural products.

- Al Dahra's annual turnover is currently at EUR 800 million. They are ready to buy products from our farmers, pay them on time, let our farmers set good prices, so that all food manufacturers in Serbia will be able to increase their sales as Al Dahra exports these agricultural products all around the world - Dinkic explained.