The Qatari company “Baladna” signed a memorandum of joint cooperation with the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority, to study the establishment of a project for raising cows with a capacity of 20,000 heads of livestock, dairy production, and cultivating lands with an area of 113,000 hectares in the New Valley Governorate in the southwest of Egypt, to cover the project’s needs for fodder and agricultural products.
The memorandum regulates the initial areas of cooperation for dairy production and processing in Egypt, with investments amounting to $1.5 billion, and the launch of a cow farm with an initial capacity of 20,000 heads of dairy cows, with an annual production volume of 300 million liters of milk.
Following the signing of the memorandum of cooperation, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stressed that the agreement is the culmination of the efforts made towards advancing bilateral relations between Egypt and Qatar on the economic level, and is the result of preliminary discussions and studies that continued for several months to determine the initial principles of cooperation and develop an action plan during the next stage. .
He pointed out that the project holds promising opportunities towards supporting food security through dairy products, providing many job opportunities for Egyptian youth, and reducing the cost of importing these products from abroad. The Prime Minister also directed all relevant ministries to facilitate the necessary procedures to begin the actual steps to implement the provisions of the memorandum of cooperation.
Mostafa Madbouly stressed the provision of full support for the success of the project in all its stages, due to its integration with Egypt’s efforts towards the localization of food industries, cultivation and reclamation of lands, and the transfer of knowledge and technology related to them.
Comprehensive studies
For his part, member of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Baladna Qatari Company, Ramez Muhammad Al-Khayyat, said that the signing of the memorandum of understanding comes as a culmination of the detailed discussions and comprehensive studies between the two sides, stressing the endeavor for this new project to be a basic pillar that contributes to the development of the agricultural sector and the enhancement of food security, which is one of the key factors. The most important challenges facing the world, which various countries and global institutions are seeking to take various measures to confront.
He stressed the readiness of Baladna Company – which is the largest dairy producing company in Qatar – to invest in this project with all its world-class resources and expertise, and to apply the best sustainable global practices.
This project is the second for the Qatari company Baladna in Egypt, after it announced last January that it had raised its stake in Juhayna Food Industries Company, listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, to 15.03%, after purchasing about 600,000 additional shares in “Juhaina” for about 7.4%. One million Egyptian pounds (one dollar equals 31 pounds).
According to the latest data disclosure last August, Baladna’s profits fell to 42.3 million riyals (2.22 riyals per share) by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to profits of 47.6 million riyals achieved during the same period in 2022.
