RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment has signed an agreement worth $1 billion to manufacture specialized agriculture chemicals within the Kingdom. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the recently concluded World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The ministry signed the agreement with an Indian company, UPL Limited, which markets and manufactures agrochemicals and offers crop protection solutions. The new agreement comes in line with the goals outlined in Vision 2030, which eyes diversifying the Kingdom’s economic streams. Headquartered in Mumbai, UPL, which acquired Arysta LifeScience Inc. in 2019, is currently the fifth-largest generic agrochemicals company in the world after Bayer, Dupont, Syngenta and BASF. In December, Sustainalytics, a company that rates the sustainability of listed companies based on their environmental, social and corporate governance performance, ranked the highest-performing top-tier global crop protection company in its 2022 ESG rating. This is the third year UPL has been ranked in this industry leadership position for sustainability performance by 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,” said Jai Shroff, global CEO at UPL Ltd. In December 2022, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli, who is also the chairman of the board of directors of the Agricultural Development Fund, approved the expansion plan in the plant resources sector and greenhouses with new investments valued at SR4 billion ($1.09 billion) until 2025. According to Al-Fadhli, the investment will help Saudi Arabia to increase its production capacity in the agricultural sector by adopting new technologies.