The
Minister of Agriculture had a meeting with the Palestinian Minister
of Agriculture
The
Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Mr Nicos
Kouyialis, had a meeting, today, with the Palestinian Minister of
Agriculture, Dr Waleed Assaf, at the Ministry of Agriculture, in
Nicosia. The Palestinian Minister is paying a two-day official visit
in Cyprus. After the bilateral meeting held, the two Ministers signed
a bilateral Action Plan and made statements to the Press as follows:
In
his statements Minister Kouyialis said: «It is with great pleasure
that I welcome the Minister of Agriculture of Palestine and his
delegation in Cyprus, to exchange views on the action areas of the
two Ministries, as well as to sign an Action Plan that is the outcome
of the three meetings between the Working Groups, in order to
implement the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in
March 2011, in Ramala, on strengthening agricultural cooperation
between the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and
Environment of Cyprus and the Ministry of Agriculture of the State of
Palestine.
The
implementation of this Action Plan is undoubtedly going to enhance
our bilateral cooperation and reinforce the agricultural sectors of
our two states. Cyprus and Palestine share common climate, soil and
agricultural characteristics and have to deal with similar problems
in these areas. Therefore, both sides are going to benefit from the
Action Plan in the areas of agriculture, of agricultural research and
veterinary services.
I
would like to stress that Cyprus and Palestine have a good level of
expertise with regards to specific topics indicated in the Action
Plan that we are signing today and which concern: the exchange of
expertise and knowledge in the field of Plant Protection and in
dealing with common pests and diseases, the agricultural research and
submission of common research programmes and the veterinary services.
More specifically, in the field of agriculture both sides are
expected to benefit from the exchange of knowledge in Plant
Protection in order to deal with the common pests and diseases.
Cyprus can benefit from the Palestinian expertise on plant pest
management techniques and in particular from the Sterilised Insect
Technique for the control of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly and the
Olive Fruit Fly.
In
the field of agricultural research, the two sides could cooperate on
developing drought tolerant crops based on local varieties, on the
identification and characterization of olive oil profile – which
are of special interest to Cyprus –, on soilless culture
techniques, on postharvest and conservation techniques and on the on
the reproduction potential and genetic improvement of the Cyprus
goats.
Finally,
concerning the cooperation in the area of the veterinary services,
this will be focused on the field of identification and tracing of
the animals, on the diagnostic units of animal diseases and on the
requirements of laboratories concerning the diagnosis and treatment
of bees and fish diseases».
Mr
Kouyialis noted
that tomorrow the Minister of Palestine and his delegation are going
to visit the high quality laboratories and premises of the Veterinary
Services, where they will have the opportunity to be informed and to
exchange views with the scientific staff. This fact is going to
contribute in the reinforcement of the exchange of technical
knowledge between the two sides, he added. A similar visit is going
to take place this afternoon at the Agricultural Research Institute,
concerning the agricultural research issues. Tomorrow the Palestinian
Minister is also going to visit the Water Development Department for
the exchange of technical knowledge on water management issues.
In
the framework of our cooperation in the veterinary services domain,
Mr Kouyialis said, there will be transmission of the theoretical and
practical experience gained in Palestine, regarding the control of
diseases that have been eradicated from Cyprus, such as the Foot and
Mouth Disease and Brucellosis, through on-the-spot visits of Officers
of the Veterinary Services of Cyprus in Palestine. In addition we
are going to exchange experiences on the design and implementation of
contingency plans for exotic diseases, like the West Nile Fever.
Moreover, he added, we are also looking forward to the establishment
of a network at the Eastern Mediterranean area that could promote the
vision of the Veterinary Services of Cyprus for the creation of a
highly modern center on the diagnosis and control of the zoonoses in
Cyprus that will focus on the study of the main zoonoses found or may
occur in the region of Eastern Mediterranean.
In
his statements, the Minister of Agriculture of Palestine expressed
his satisfaction for the outcome of his visit to Cyprus and stressed
the importance of the signing of the Action Plan today, which sets
priorities and defines further activities for the implementation of
the Memorandum of Understanding that had been signed in 2011. Dr
Waleed Assaf added: «Historical ties of friendship unite our two
states and peoples, while our cooperation is increasing and expanding
in all fields, through the signing of several bilateral agreements
and through the mutual support to our national issues. I would like
to reiterate Palestine`s strong desire to further develop these
relations in all fields and I engage myself in intense efforts to
work hard towards this direction».
The
Palestinian Minister expressed the gratitude of the State of
Palestine for the continuous and firm support of Cyprus towards his
State and said that Palestine supports the efforts for the
reunification of Cyprus and a comprehensive and viable solution.
