Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz appointed Ahmad bin Abdelaziz Al-Fares as head of the Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organisation (GSFMO) on Wednesday, state news agency SPA reported, citing a royal decree. Fares replaces Abdulrahman bin Saleh Al-Ruwatie, who had been named acting director-general of the GSFMO after his predecessor Waleed El-Khereiji became agriculture minister.
Before this post, Fares was acting deputy director-general of the GSFMO for operation and maintenance. Saudi Arabia imports wheat through public tenders held by the GSFMO. It is a regular importer of wheat and began scaling back its domestic wheat-growing programme in 2008, planning to rely completely on imports by 2016 to save water.