São Paulo – The Saudi group AKS Saeed Saudi Arabia has plans to build a sugar refinery in the Arab country with US$ 200 million worth of investment. The unit should be supplied by imports of nearly one tonne of the raw product from Brazil per year. The information was given to the Brazilian minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa, in the Portuguese acronym), Neri Geller, who was in Saudi Arabia this weekend and met with the group’s CEO, Khalid Saleh Almusa. The meeting was arranged by the Brazilian ambassador in Riyadh, Flávio Marega.
According to information released by Mapa’s press office, the Saudi group is backed by the Saudi Agricultural Fund, an organization that provides financing to the Arab country’s private sector in dealing with other markets. Geller has pledged to engage in direct talks with industry players in Brazil involved to advance negotiations. “This is an investment which greatly interests Brazil and I can assure you, on behalf of president Dilma Rousseff, that our government will spare no efforts in implementing it,” said the minister.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
