RIYADH, Aug 23: Saudi Arabia plans to set up a firm to invest in agriculture overseas within two months to ensure food security, the kingdom’s agricultural minister said in remarks published on Saturday.

The new company, a partnership between the public sector and domestic private companies, is a part of a programme to ensure adequate food supplies to the Gulf Arab country at cheaper prices, daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat quoted Agriculture Minister Fahd Balghunaim as saying.

The firm will focus on items that either cannot be grown in the kingdom, such as rice and sugar or need plenty of water supplies such as wheat, barley and animal fodder, the minister said.—Reuters