UNIDO launches pilot project to revitalize the Syrian agro-food industries sector
On May 10th, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and funding from the Russian Federation, launched a pioneering project to revitalize the Syrian agro-food industry sector at the Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus.
The Minister of Industry, Dr. Abdul Qadir Joukhadar, said in a speech: “Based on the Syrian government’s interest in enhancing continuous cooperation with international organizations, especially UNIDO, and due to its experience at the global level in the field of industrial development, it was agreed to implement the pioneering project to revitalize the food industry sector.”
Minister Jokhadar indicated that the project aims to revitalize the agri-food industries sector by strengthening the capabilities of technical centers supporting these industries and the services they provide in parallel with developing the concerned companies and their products and enhancing their competitive capabilities.
Minister Jokhadar affirmed the Ministry’s full readiness for close cooperation in order to achieve the goals and objectives of this project and to develop and expand it in the future to include a larger number of beneficiary agencies and sectors.
The regional representative of “UNIDO” Emmanuel Calenzi pointed out that one of the advantages of this project is to support small and medium enterprises in developing and marketing their products and improving their quality.
Calenzi stressed the importance of rich vocational training for the labor force in various fields of work and raising the level of interest in it, in order to improve the standard of living for them and create job opportunities for young people, which reflects positively on all other industries related to agriculture, such as the textile industries.
Calenzi indicated the need to take advantage of renewable energy sources as they are environmentally friendly, in addition to what it achieves in terms of saving money and continuous energy supply that ensures the continuity of the work of projects and machines.
The representative of the Russian Embassy in Damascus, Ivan Korostlev, stressed the need to support Syria at all levels, given that its people have experienced great suffering represented by terrorism, unilateral coercive economic measures, the Corona pandemic, and the recent earthquake disaster.
Korostlev called for more effort and work to lift the unjust economic blockade on the Syrian people.
For his part, and via the Internet, the representative of the Russian Federation’s mission to international organizations in Vienna, Sergey Korolev, affirmed his country’s full support for the friendly Syrian people.
The project manager at UNIDO, Rafik El-Feki, indicated that the project was developed by the organization in agreement with the Ministry of Industry for a period of “3” years and with a total budget of $2,407,150.
Al-Feki indicated that the project is based on 4 main outputs, which are mapping and evaluating the agro-food industries sector, preparing action plans and initiatives for its development, enhancing the services of relevant technical centers, preparing strategies and plans for project development and implementation, improving their products, production, manufacturing and marketing capabilities, quality management, and preparing and approving a national project document for upgrading agro-food industries institutions,.
The Minister of Industry indicated, in a statement to the media, after signing the project launch memorandum with the representative of “UNIDO”, that the Ministry will follow up on the implementation of this project in all its stages by providing studies and data to give a comprehensive picture on that, in cooperation with the private sector in a way that achieves production development, quality improvement and Syrian product competitiveness in the markets.
Ghazwan Al-Masry, Chairman of the Federation of Chambers of Industry, affirmed the federation’s readiness to fully cooperate with the Ministry of Industry for the success of this project, by providing the necessary expertise and data in the completion of related projects, revitalization and employment in various industrial fields related to agricultural products and others.
The signing ceremony was followed by a workshop and open discussions by the attendees on reviewing the results of a survey of the Syrian agro-food industry sector, and action plans and initiatives for the development of this sector.
al-Mohammad