Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih led a 60-member delegation that took part in an investment forum in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo.
It was the third high-level Saudi visit in 18 months, including one in May by Foreign Affairs Minister Adel Al-Jubeir.
Uruguayan authorities and business leaders are confident that the country can serve as Saudi Arabia’s point of entry for South America.
“Uruguay offers economic, legal and social stability for companies looking to do business and invest here,” Alfredo Ferrari, investment manager of the country’s promotion agency Uruguay XXI, told Arab News on the sidelines of the forum.
Ammar M. Altaf, assistant deputy of services sectors in the Saudi Investment Ministry, stressed the similarities between Uruguay and the Kingdom.
“We believe there’s complementarity. Uruguay has competitive sectors and offers an opening for investment opportunities,” said Altaf, spokesperson for the delegation that included representatives of the agriculture, real estate, sports and technology sectors. “It’s not surprising to see the opportunities here given the economic and policy indicators.”
Uruguay, a country of just 3.5 million people sandwiched between giants Argentina and Brazil, is promoting investment options in a number of areas, with emphasis on agribusiness and renewable energy, and its capacity to be a new breadbasket for the Middle East and North Africa.
Lisandro Bril, head of Oikos Innovation Capital, said: “Saudi Arabia and Uruguay are creating a new roadmap for development and investment. When you make a connection you create a vision, but when you invest you’re setting the stage for the future.”
He added that Saudi Arabia understands the importance of Uruguay for food security, and that the latter not only has land and ranks high in agriculture productivity, but also guarantees stability for production and logistics chains.
The issue of food security, while always a critical topic, has gained even more attention because of the double whammy of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
A meeting of Asia-Pacific countries on Thursday in the US reported that 735 million people face hunger around the globe. That is 122 million more than prior to the pandemic in 2019.
“Uruguay is absolutely essential for the world’s food security, and if you consider the MENA region, we’re talking about a population topping more than 300 million people this decade,” said Bril.—AN
