2024-04-27 10:07:08
Algeria signed a framework agreement with the Qatari company “Baladna” to launch an integrated project for the production of powdered milk in Algeria, worth $3.5 billion.
The project, which will be built on a total area of more than 100,000 hectares, will include a farm for producing grains and fodder, a farm for raising cows and producing milk and meat, and a factory for producing milk powder, according to the Algerian News Agency.
The new project aims to produce 50 percent of Algeria’s needs for milk powder locally, in addition to supplying the local market with red meat, and contributing to increasing the number of cows in Algeria, which currently stands at about one million heads.
In a statement on Facebook, “Baladna” said that the project will be a partnership between it (51%) and the Algerian state, represented by the National Investment Fund (49%).
The Qatar News Agency quoted the company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Moataz Al-Khayyat, as saying that the project will be the largest in the world and the first of its kind in Algeria.
Al-Khayyat said that this project represents the first Qatari cooperation with sister countries and all parties concerned with food security and seeking to achieve self-sufficiency, especially in vital food sectors such as dairy and its derivatives.
He expected it to succeed in meeting more than 50 percent of Algeria’s milk needs, and it would also provide 5,000 job opportunities for national cadres, noting that the project was specifically designed to suit the Algerian environment, in terms of climate, soil nature, etc., using the latest global technologies in the fields of agriculture, irrigation. Cattle raising, milking and processing.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Baladna” pointed out that this project will constitute a starting point from achieving self-sufficiency in milk to achieving self-sufficiency in the rest of the vital food sectors for Algeria, which is considered a milestone step on the path to achieving food security, and the cornerstone of national security, in addition to contributing In reducing food prices by relying on local production.
The Qatari “Baladna” recorded a growth in revenues of 7 percent in 2023, reaching 1.1 billion Qatari riyals, or more than 302 million US dollars, as well as a growth in its net profits of 36 percent.
Last updated: April 26, 2024 – 14:10
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2024-04-27 10:07:08