Converting Agricultural Food products for Functional Foods…

Opportunity for Economic Growth

 DAMASCUS, (ST) – Head of Trade Policies Department at the National Center for Agricultural Policy in the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Eng. Mahmoud Babilly, said that the center prepared a work paper on the prospects of functional food production in Syria and exporting it  to the world market.

“Functional food is the food that can provide health benefits as well as its food benefits and this type of food could be an important business opportunity provided by the agriculture sector to contribute to the economic growth of Syria. Agricultural activities associated with preparing functional food could activate agricultural development, especially after working on the rehabilitation of some wild plant species and using them to be exported,” Eng. Babilly clarified.

Eng. Babilly added in a statement that the paper monitors the many functional advantages that our local agricultural products enjoy, it also refers to the possibility of converting some of the agri-food products to functional food after treatment. The paper also presents deliberated proposals to market these products in the Russian market.

The paper recommends studying the possibility of export of functional foods that benefit health heart , treating problems of obesity to Russian markets and studying the possibility of exporting Syrian dairy after being processed as functional foods for this market.

Finally, The paper recommends benefit from the free trade agreements signed with friendly countries to promote the trade of functional food.

Eng. Babilly sees that functional food could be an opportunity for economic growth of many developing countries, particularly those which enjoy biodiversity and accumulated traditional knowledge on the health effects of species of local plants as can for many developing countries could compete in the production of functional food because of labor low costs in comparison to developed countries In addition to the economic opportunities arising from the production of a variety of functional foods and high-value.

 It is worth mentioning that the centre circulated this paper to concerned bodies, Development and Promotion of Syrian Exports  Authority, International Cooperation and Planning Authority, the Ministry of Industry and others for information and take advantage of them.

Sh. Kh.