Al-Bashir says Sudan ready to receive Arab agricultural investments
March 29, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir Wednesday has expressed his country’s readiness to receive agricultural investments from Arab countries to achieve Arab food security especially after the lift of U.S. economic sanctions.
During the meetings of the 3rd Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Riyadh in 2013, al-Bashir launched an initiative to achieve Arab food security through offering investment opportunities in agriculture and livestock in Sudan.
In his address before the opening session of the 28th Arab summit in Amman Wednesday, al-Bashir said: “Sudan is one of the pillars of Arab food security and we look forward to receiving more Arab investments, especially after the lift of U.S. sanctions imposed on the country”.
It is noteworthy that Sudan has 175 million feddans of arable land, 118 million feddans of natural grassland nature and 102 million head of livestock.
The feddan is a unit of area equivalent to 1.038 acres (0.42 ha).
U.S. SANCTIONS AND THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
Meanwhile, al-Bashir expressed hope that Sudan achieves full lift of sanctions and its name be lifted from the U.S. list of states sponsors of terror and its external debt be cancelled with the help of the Arab League and Arab leaders.
He pointed to Sudan’s efforts in the fight against terrorism, saying the phenomenon poses a great danger to the international community and to the Arab world in particular.
The Sudanese president called for the Arab and international unity to ward off dangers of terrorism.
Sudan is under economic sanctions since twenty years, the east African country is also on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1993.
However, the U.S. Department of State in a statement issued last September welcomed Sudanese government efforts to combat terrorism and its increased cooperation with Washington.
Furthermore, former President Barak Obama eased economic sanctions on Sudan and the decision will be enforced following a review to be made by several agencies including the CIA and the FBI.
(ST)