Damascus-Sana
The University of Damascus and the Arab Center for Studies of Arid Zones and Arid Lands (ACSAD) signed today a scientific and academic cooperation agreement to improve management and investment of natural resources in dry and semi-arid areas, in a way that contributes to the advancement of the agricultural situation in Syria.
Under the agreement, the two sides will cooperate to conduct joint research, exchange scientific and technical expertise, documents and statistics available to them, hold training courses for specialization and postgraduate students, teaching assistants, researchers, and field supervision of first-stage students, specialists, and repeaters during visits to the experimental fields in the center.
The two sides will also cooperate to hold seminars, conferences and seminars related to the activities of the two sides, so that ACSAD Center facilitates attendance of regional and international conferences and seminars related to joint scientific cooperation activities for some faculty members at the University of Damascus as needed and according to the available capabilities.
The two sides agreed to consult and cooperate in collecting, evaluating, preserving and exchanging the genetic assets of the crops that the two parties are working on to benefit from them in the joint agricultural research program. Each party will facilitate for researchers from the other party ways to benefit from the library, laboratories and technologies available to it.
The agreement will enter into force after its approval by the Higher Education Council and remain in effect for a period of five years upon the approval of both parties.
In a statement to the media following the signing of the agreement, Dr. Muhammad Yasar Abdin, President of Damascus University, praised the existing cooperation between the two sides, which supports agriculture in Syria, while Dr. Nasr Al-Din Al-Obaid, Director General of the ACSAD Center, stressed the importance of the agreement in the transition to applied scientific research and the advancement of the agricultural and economic situation in Syria.
The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Damascus University, Dr. Abd Al-Nabi Bashir, stated that the agreement will allow joint research to be carried out to overcome the problems that agriculture in Syria suffers from, such as the water crisis, soil depletion and the repercussions of logging and burning.
Indian Helena