Minister of Agriculture, his Saudi counterpart discuss promoting Syrian-Saudi trade relations

On the sidelines of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, which is being held in the Italian capital, Rome, the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Muhammad Hassan Qatana met with the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Water in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abdul Rahman Al-Fadhli?

Minister Qatna reviewed the difficulties and challenges that the agricultural sector in Syria suffers from as a result of the unilateral coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people, stressing the importance of enhancing intra-trade and the direct access of Syrian agricultural products to Saudi markets.

Minister Qatna referred to the difficulties facing Syrian trucks heading to Saudi Arabia due to Syria not being registered on the list of countries exporting to Saudi Arabia in the Saudi plant quarantine system, and the need to find common solutions and understandings for that, pointing out that the four-party  agreement signed between Syria and neighboring countries (Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon) to enhance trade cooperation was designed to achieve food security in these four countries.

Minister Qatna referred to the difficulties facing Syrian trucks heading to Saudi Arabia due to Syria not being registered on the list of countries exporting to Saudi Arabia in the Saudi plant quarantine system, and the need to find common solutions and understandings for that, pointing out that the four-way agreement signed between Syria and neighboring countries (Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon) to enhance trade cooperation was designed to achieve food security in these four countries.

Minister Qatna called on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to join this agreement because of the common Arab interests it contains in the field of exchange of agricultural products and agricultural production inputs, pointing to the need to review the cooperation agreements in the agricultural field, which were signed and existing between Syria and Saudi Arabia, to modernize and reactivate them, and to take practical steps towards implementing their programmes.

Minister Qatna praised King Mohammed bin Salman’s initiative to plant a billion trees in order to increase green spaces, confront climate change and reduce carbon emissions, indicating in this regard Syria’s readiness to provide part of the necessary plants and produce them according to the required specifications to be able to be exported to Saudi Arabia.

On his part, the Saudi Minister of Agriculture expressed his country’s joy at resuming Syria’s participation in the meetings of the League of Arab States, referring to Syria’s history and its embrace of Islamic civilization being the capital of the Umayyad state, stressing the strength of the Syrian-Saudi relations officially and at the popular level.

Minister Al-Fadhli welcomed the idea of reactivating the memorandums of understanding after holding virtual meetings between technicians in the two ministries to find appropriate formulas and executive programs for them, pointing the need to enhance intra-trade in agricultural commodities.

While the Saudi Minister of Agriculture indicated the need to review the executive agenda of the four-party agreement held in Damascus with neighboring countries, and to study the possibility of joining this agreement and whether it could be expanded, pointing to the importance of joint Arab action and the need to benefit from experiences and capabilities to achieve food security by improving and developing plant varieties and animal breeds.

At the end of the meeting, the Syrian Minister of Agriculture invited the Saudi Minister of Agriculture to visit Damascus and discuss prospects for cooperation in agricultural fields in depth, the Saudi minister welcomed the invitation and expressed his willingness to implement it at the appropriate time.

It is noteworthy that Syria is participating in the work of the United Nations Summit on Food Systems, which is being held in the Italian capital, Rome, during the period from the 24th to the 26th of July.

Leen Al-Salman