NAIROBI, 25 August 2008 (IRIN) - An article in the current issue of the Economist Saudi Arabia: Buying the Farm says inflation and the rising price of food has prompted "the Saudi government to consider a new direction for foreign investment: buying farms in the poorer parts of the world."

According to The Economist, "Saudis are thinking of buying rice farms in Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter," for example.

On the same subject, the Financial Times (Foreign fields: Rich states look beyond their borders for fertile soil) reports that "the United Arab Emirates is looking into Kazakhstan and Sudan, Libya is hoping to lease farms in Ukraine, and South Korea has hinted at plans in Mongolia. Even China - with plenty of cultivable land but not a lot of water - is exploring investments in south-east Asia."

Jacques Diouf, director-general of FAO, warns of the risk of a "neo-colonial" agricultural system as "some negotiations [between host countries and investors] have led to unequal international relations and short-term mercantilist agriculture," reports the FT.

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