Dubai, 06 March 2019: Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) honoured its strategic partners during a ceremony held in Dubai. The ceremony was attended by several top-level officials including ministers, undersecretaries, ambassadors of Arab and foreign countries, heads of Arab and international organizations, local authorities, directors of companies and banks, as well as a group of senior investors in the agricultural sector and businessmen.

The ceremony proved to be both timely and strategic as recent reports have shown that more than 50 agricultural companies are now dealing with the Authority, also reflecting total investments of about USD 631 million. The number of investment opportunities studied by the Authority has also reached to about 115, which focused on plant and animal production, food processing and agricultural services, while 69 development programs were conducted for small farmers and producers in the Arab countries, with agricultural areas amounting to about 26,000 feddans.

The Authority also allocated about USD 13 million as funding support to small farmers and producers and about USD 5 million to promote the activity of contractual crops, while the number of beneficiaries of all these programs have reached to 93,000 farmers and producers. In the field of agricultural research and localization of modern technologies, the Authority has implemented about 95 applied research experiences in several Arab countries.