Kuwait eyes overseas farmlands: Big Opportunity for Indonesia

A Kuwaiti co-operative union said on Wednesday the Gulf Arab state was interested in investing in farmland abroad to help secure food supplies, but would focus on local farms for now and a possible subsidies expansion.

'We are concentrating on Kuwait, but we were hoping to work jointly with other Arab Cooperative Unions,' Mohammad Al-Ansari, head of the Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies told Reuters.

Ansari said the world's seventh-largest oil exporter, a largely desert nation, was considering increasing subsidies on additional food items and fixing prices of some commodities.

Soaring food prices are a key driver of inflation in the desert the hitting a record 10.14 per cent in February, the latest published figure.

Kuwait imports most of its food and wants to invest in chicken and other farms as part of a national food plan. Sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), could participate in the project, he said.

Last month, Commerce and Industry Minister Ahmad Baqer said the government could work with fellow Gulf Arab states to invest in food production and farming to secure food supplies.

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