The Agricultural Investment and Trade Forum for Value Chains of Priority Commodities in Syria was held today, Monday, organized by the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development and the Islamic Corporation for the Financing of International Trade, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, at the Caesar Palace Hotel in Damascus.
The forum, attended by a number of specialists in the agricultural field from the public and private sectors, aims to discuss agricultural investment and food security issues, challenges and opportunities, and partnership prospects, and to showcase promising investment opportunities and priority agricultural value chains in Syria, in addition to discussing agricultural financing mechanisms and risk management, and the role of contract farming in supporting the agricultural sector and enhancing its sustainability.
Transition from Traditional Production Frameworks
Mohammed Youssef Al-Miqdad, Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Policy and Rural Development Affairs, clarified in a speech during the opening of the forum that agricultural investment and food security require a transition from traditional production frameworks to genuine investment partnerships that link production with logistics, storage, and manufacturing services, within flexible and comprehensive value chains capable of withstanding challenges.
Al-Miqdad pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture is working on formulating a strategic vision that includes an investment map distributed across governorates, specifying available investment opportunities, the challenges facing them, and ways to address them, noting that agricultural investment is not limited to providing capital, but is based on a genuine partnership between government institutions, the private sector, and local and international development organizations.
Food Imports Pose a Challenge to Food Security
For his part, Ali Musa, representative of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, emphasized that food imports pose a challenge to Arab food security, given the continued gap between production and consumption in a number of basic commodities, especially grains, which the Arab region imports a large percentage of from outside, noting that Syria is among the Arab countries that can contribute to closing the Arab food gap, especially in the production of grains and legumes.
Musa pointed out that agricultural value chain studies have shown the existence of bottlenecks requiring treatment, including providing production inputs and agricultural services to farmers, and improving marketing, storage, and processing operations, explaining that addressing challenges in the agricultural sector requires enhancing coordination among various parties concerned with value chains, and improving product quality and compliance with specifications and standards.
A Platform for Exchanging Ideas and Experiences
For his part, Mohammed Al-Naji, Director of Economics and Planning at the Ministry of Agriculture, emphasized the importance of the forum as a platform for exchanging ideas and experiences and enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors, which contributes to supporting and developing agricultural supply chains.
Al-Naji clarified that the forum allows for discussing the most prominent proposed investment projects in the governorates, especially those related to crops and agricultural commodities of strategic and economic importance, noting that it represents an opportunity to identify the most prominent bottlenecks and challenges facing the agricultural sector in each governorate, in light of climate changes and available potentials and resources, which helps in identifying investment opportunities and enhancing the economic value of agricultural products.
Earlier, on August 12, Minister of Agriculture Bassel Al-Sweidan discussed with Ibrahim Al-Dukheiry, Director of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, ways to enhance cooperation in scientific and research agricultural fields and joint projects, which contributes to supporting Syrian agriculture and enhancing Arab food security.
The Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, affiliated with the League of Arab States, works on developing activities related to agricultural development, and providing assistance in creating new means and strategies to develop these fields, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of Arab agricultural products in global markets.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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