Damascus, (ST) - Minister of Industry Ahmed Al-Hamo discussed here on Thursday with the delegation of the Arab- Chinese Association, chaired by Shen Yong, the prospects of Syrian-Chinese cooperation in the reconstruction phase and the establishment of joint industrial projects.

Mr. Al-Hamo presented the needs of the national industry, especially in the industries of medicine, glass, tires, cars and means of providing raw materials, machines, spare parts and production lines. The Minister confirmed the need to strengthen cooperation between Syrian companies and institutions and their Chinese counterparts.

FAO’s latest outlook for global cereal supply and demand in 2017/18 remains favorable as demand is projected to fall slightly short of the anticipated production level, allowing global stocks to remain around their record-high opening levels.

FAO currently forecasts world cereal production in 2017 at 2 594 million tones, 5 million tones lower than the May forecast and down 14.1 million tones (0.5 percent) year-on-year. The monthly decrease is mostly the result of deteriorating production prospects for coarse grains and, to a lesser extent, for rice.  Compared to 2016, much of the reduction is due to expectations of a 2.2 percent contraction in global wheat output as well as lower barley and sorghum production. These declines would more than offset a 1.4 percent expected expansion in global maize output, driven primarily by strong rebounds in South America and Southern Africa, and a 0.7 percent increase in world rice production.

Damascus, (ST)- Prime Minister Imad Khamis received On Sunday Iranian Ambassador to Damascus Javad Turkabadi and discussed with him the development of relations between the two countries in various fields, especially in the economic sectors.

 Eng. Khamis highlighted the role being played by the Islamic Republic of Iran in support of Syria in light of the terrorist war and providing all forms of support to the Syrian people, considering that "the biggest challenge is the economic war on the Syrian people, which requires the development of relations to an advanced level in all fields."

Rome-Global food commodity markets are well-balanced, buoyed by ample supplies of wheat and maize and rebounding production of oilseed products

However, rising shipping costs and larger import volumes are set to lift the global food import bill to more than USD 1.3 trillion this year, a 10.6 percent increase from 2016, FAO said today in its biannual Food Outlook.

The food import bills of least-developed countries, low-income food deficit countries and countries in sub-Saharan Africa are on course to rise even faster due to higher import volumes of meat, sugar, dairy and oilseed products.

Rising import bills are forecast for all food categories except for fish, for which growing domestic market demand in many developing countries is being increasingly met by robust growth in their local aquaculture sectors.

Damascus, (ST) -  Within the framework of preparations for the Damascus International Fair (DIF), the Head of the Syrian Exporters' Federation Mohammed Al-Sawah met with a number of businessmen in Kuwait representing a wide range of customers of specialized exhibitions and invited Kuwaiti companies to participate in the DIF.