Sanaa: The Acting Prime Minister Scholar Mohammed Muftah inaugurated today the "Yemen's Bounties" festival in its second season, organized by the Local Council of the Capital Secretariat and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fish Wealth, and Water Resources through the Agriculture Office and the Unit for Financing Agricultural and Fishery Projects and Initiatives at the Secretariat.
According to Yemen News Agency, the festival, which runs from the fourth until the eighth of October, aims to enhance the status, quality, and value of agricultural products locally and globally. It seeks to contribute to their marketing support and encourage farmers, sellers, marketers, and agricultural and export institutions. It also aims to highlight the quality of Yemeni agricultural products, enhance their competitiveness, and open broader horizons for marketing, investment, and export.
Scholar Muftah toured the exhibition pavilions, which include samples of Yemen's agricultural bounties of fruits, specifically grapes, pomegranates, apples, and dates, alongside a productive families pavilion.
The Acting Prime Minister emphasized the importance of holding these introductory and marketing festivals, which highlight an aspect of Yemen's agricultural bounties. He affirmed the government's keenness to encourage such events and activities and expand their establishment.
He expressed his satisfaction with the qualitative development witnessed in the festival compared to the previous season due to the abundance of products, quality packaging, and the expertise of producers, manufacturers, and marketers, as well as the modern mechanization in local manufacturing.
He praised the level of arrangement and organization of the festival, which helps develop and improve the quality of local products in general, expressing hope for a qualitative leap in advancing agricultural products during the coming years.
Scholar Muftah highlighted the role of farmers who adhere to sound agricultural practices and quality standards that contribute to improving product quality and taste, thus enhancing their competitiveness in local and foreign markets.
He directed the concerned authorities in the Capital Secretariat, the provinces, and the ministries of Local and Rural Administration and Development, Agriculture and Fish Wealth and Water Resources, Economy, Industry and Investment, Social Affairs, and Labor, and other relevant bodies to support producers from farmers, manufacturers, and marketers to elevate national products and move towards self-sufficiency in various products, whether agricultural or industrial.
Muftah urged media outlets to reflect these successes and spread awareness on various agricultural issues, foremost among them interest in home farming, mechanization, and manufacturing to make a shift for these products and achieve self-sufficiency with them.
The Capital Secretary Dr. Hamoud Abbad pointed out that the Yemen's Bounties festival aims to enhance the geographical and historical status of fruit quality and strengthen their competitiveness locally and abroad.
He affirmed the keenness of the Capital Secretariat, represented by the Unit for Financing Agricultural and Fishery Projects and Initiatives, in coordination with relevant authorities, to support and encourage agricultural products and the level of competitive agricultural production, as well as projects related to agriculture, national industry, and productive families.
During the inauguration, which was attended by deputies of the Minister of Local and Rural Administration and Development, Nasser Al-Mahdar, Youth and Sports, Nabeh Nasser, the General Secretary of the Capital Secretariat, Amin Jama'an, First Undersecretary of the Secretariat, Khaled Al-Madani, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Fish Wealth for the Marketing Sector, Mohsen Atef, and advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Engineer Samir Al-Hanani, the Acting Prime Minister listened to an explanation from those in charge of the festival about its activities, objectives, and programs.
The Director of the Unit for Financing Agricultural and Fishery Projects and Initiatives, Engineer Abdulmalik Al-Ansi, and the head of the preparatory committee for the festival - the official of the agricultural sector at the Secretariat, Engineer Mohammed Hajar, explained that the Yemen's Bounties festival in its second season seeks to enhance support and encouragement for marketing the local product, support farmers, sellers, marketers, agricultural and exporting institutions, and highlight the quality of the local product.
They pointed out that the festival aims to enhance coordination between farmers, marketers, and agricultural associations to market and sell agricultural products optimally, as it includes exhibitions for agricultural products, pavilions for exporters, marketers, associations, and farmers, as well as for productive families, small and micro-enterprises, and economic empowerment, and others for mechanization and service providers.
Al-Ansi and Hajar mentioned that the festival will witness seminars and scientific workshops discussing scientific research in the agricultural sector with wide participation from government agencies, the private sector, and agricultural cooperative associations, as it is an agricultural and developmental event that opens new horizons for agricultural investment and export.
The inauguration was attended by a number of officials and representatives of relevant authorities.