RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment has recently inked an immense deal to the tune of $1 billion with UPL Limited, an Indian company that produces and markets agrochemicals and offers crop protection solutions. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum held recently in Davos, Switzerland. This large investment is expected to bring specialized agricultural chemicals production within the Kingdom.
In line with the goals set by Vision 2030, a new agreement has been made to diversify economic streams in the Kingdom.
Mumbai is home to UPL, which acquired Arysta LifeScience Inc. in 2019 and is now considered the fifth-largest generic agrochemicals company in the world, following Bayer, Dupont, Syngenta, and BASF.
In December, Sustainalytics - a company that assesses the sustainability of listed companies based on their environmental, social, and corporate governance practices - named UPL as the highest-performing top-tier global crop protection company in its 2022 ESG rating.
This marks UPL's third year in a row receiving industry leadership recognition for sustainability performance from Sustainalytics.
“I am convinced UPL has the most agile and performance-oriented culture to execute a transformational strategy across the globe and to further our mission to support farmers and food systems alike,” stated Jai Shroff, global CEO at UPL Ltd.
In December 2022, Abdulrahman Bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli - the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture for Saudi Arabia and chairman of the Agricultural Development Fund's board of directors - approved a plan to expand the plant resources sector and greenhouses with investments valued at SR4 billion (approximately $1.09 billion) until 2025.
Al-Fadhli believes that this investment will help propel Saudi Arabia's agricultural sector forward by introducing new technologies.
