Khartoum, (IINA) – The Sudanese Parliament recently approved a new law that will allow Saudi Arabia to plant and develop an area of one million acres in the northeastern parts of the country, Arab News reported.

The project will require a $10 billion investment from the Kingdom in the first phase of the agro-project for the construction of the requisite infrastructure, for which the total implementation period will be ten years. After the completion of the first phase, Saudi Arabia will embark on the development of the land for farming.

According to the agreement, the Sudanese government will grant the Kingdom the freedom to irrigate 1 million acres of planted land. The project will have a life of 99 years, and falls in line with the Kingdom’s vision 2030.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the agreement expresses the desires of the two countries to make use of their full capabilities as the majority of the agro-investments of Saudi Arabia are concentrated in Sudan. There are currently more than 395 agro-projects in Sudan with a capital value of more than $11 billion.
The sources added that Sudan aspires to depend on the agreement to market its agricultural products to the world as it is under UN sanctions. It considers Saudi Arabia a major outlet to circumvent these sanctions.