May 11, 2008

By Simeon Kerr in Dubai and Farhan Bokhari in Lahore (View author info)

One of the Middle East's largest private equity companies has been quietly buying farmland in Pakistan as part of plans by the United Arab Emirates to increase food security and to damp inflation. Dubai-based Abraaj Capital says it is working with the UAE government on the strategic agribusiness investments in Pakistan. The government in Abu Dhabi has been holding talks with Islamabad about a framework for investment in its agricultural sector as it seeks to secure cheaper long-term supplies of staples such as wheat and rice.....Abraaj Capital, which manages $5bn of assets across the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent, has been purchasing land in Pakistan during the past year, a company official said. UAE state and private entities intending to build agribusinesses in Pakistan have acquired as much as 800,000 acres of farm land, he said.

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