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uwait’s ruler, Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Sabah, is expected to announce an initiative to launch a US$7.11 billion Asian Food Security Fund on Tuesday, while inaugurating the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) summit, a Kuwait newspaper reported on Sunday.

“Kuwait will donate 500 million Kuwaiti dinars ($1.77 billion), indicating that the initiative stems from Kuwait’s desire to develop food security projects in the Asian continent as well as providing solutions to support food security,” the Arab Times reported quoting reliable sources in the government.

It is not clear how the new fund will get the rest of the money.

It would be based, the daily said, on the model of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

If the proposal is accepted by the 32 countries of the ACD, the Asian Food Security Fund would be a major milestone in the food sector in Asia, a continent that is home to 4 billion people or 60 percent of the global population.

Indonesia, China, India, Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam are some of the biggest producers of staple foods such as rice, wheat, meat, poultry, fish, soybean, fruits, vegetables, sugar, corn and palm oil.

At the same time, Asian countries are also the biggest consumers of food, given the large populations in several Asian countries. The majority of people in most Asian countries heavily depend on agricultural for their both food and livelihood.

“Agricultural development is key to food security, and is considered as a serious challenge to ensure
that all people have sufficient food necessary for a healthy and active life,” the Kuwait Fund for Arab
Economic Development said in a statement.

Established in December 1961, the Kuwait Fund generously supports the agricultural sector in various Arab as well as non-Arab countries.

According to the fund’s website kuwait-fund.org, Kuwait has so far provided more than $2.35 billion for financing agricultural projects, including the Dak-Lak irrigation project in Central Vietnam which cost the fund 3.6 million Kuwait dinars.

Several delegates of the ACD meeting heaped kudos on Kuwait for focusing on food and energy
security.

“Like energy security, food security is also very important,” Saleh Abdurrahman, a member of the Indonesian delegation as well as deputy secretary-general of the National Energy Council said in Kuwait on the sidelines of the meeting.

Indonesia imports large quantities of food items like wheat, soybeans, sugar, fruit and beverages.

Being the third-largest Asian country, Indonesia may receive some funding from the planned food security fund for enhancing food production.