Baghdad-Sana
The work of the 36th session of the Regional Conference for the Near East of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) started today, with the participation of Syria, and will continue until tomorrow in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
On the first day of the conference, participants will discuss topics including food security, healthy diets for all, for a better life, building resilient rural communities, and green recovery measures.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Eng. Muhammad Hassan Qatana, head of the Syrian delegation, discussed with his Iraqi counterpart, Engineer Muhammad Karim al-Khafaji, a mechanism for developing and strengthening cooperation relations between the two countries in the fields of agricultural scientific research, plant and animal production, animal health and fisheries, and ways of cooperation to update decisions related to import, export and quarantine. The agricultural sector contributes to supporting the agricultural sector in the two countries.
Minister Qatna called for allocating Syrian agricultural products, especially citrus fruits, with some preferential advantages, which would enable them to compete more in the Iraqi market, pointing out that despite the Syrian government's facilities in this regard, such as canceling fees and reducing the indicative price for citrus shipment, the quantities of export to Iraq have decreased significantly between the current year and the previous year.
Minister Qatana stressed the need for coordination between the two countries to find solutions to the problems facing the exchange of agricultural products, transportation and marketing problems, in addition to the high costs of clearance and transportation within Iraqi territory.
Minister Al-Khafaji confirmed communication with the Iraqi Border Ports Authority in order to reach a decision regarding Syrian agricultural exports according to the preferential advantages granted, and to conduct a study of wholesale markets and the difficulties that impede the arrival of the Syrian product to the Iraqi market, pointing out the importance of organizing the exchange of agricultural products in a way that preserves local products in the two countries and finding Early Warning System for Transboundary Diseases.
Minister Qatana also met with Iraqi Trade Minister Dr. Alaa Ahmed al-Jubouri, who pointed out the necessity of holding an exhibition of Syrian products in Mosul in order to stimulate the entry of Syrian goods in all its forms into the Iraqi market.
Minister Qatana and his Lebanese counterpart, Dr. Abbas Hajj Hassan, discussed developing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of agricultural scientific research, agricultural and veterinary quarantine, and veterinary medicines, in addition to bilateral agreements in the field of reforestation of the eastern Syrian-Lebanese mountain range.
Minister Qatna pointed to the necessity of compatibility with the needs related to confronting transboundary pests and diseases, including desert locusts, citrus diseases and others at the regional level. To hold a five-year agricultural meeting in Damascus that includes Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.
In addition, Minister Qatana visited yesterday morning one of the wholesale markets for vegetables and fruits in Baghdad and met with a number of market traders to see the agricultural products exported from Syria to Iraq, especially citrus fruits, and to identify the difficulties facing their export in order to provide appropriate solutions.
The meetings were attended by the Director General of the Arab Center for Studies of Arid Lands and Arid Lands, Dr. Nasr El-Din Al-Obeid, Deputy Minister Dr. Fayez Al-Miqdad, and the Syrian Ambassador to Iraq, Sattam Al-Dandah.
Ghassob Abboud
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