A memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Lebanese and Iraqi Ministers of Agriculture Abbas al-Hajj Hassan and Abbas Jabr al-Ali al-Maliki, respectively, within the framework of agricultural activities, imports and combating diseases and epidemics affecting agriculture and livestock.
An expanded Lebanese-Iraqi agricultural meeting was also held at the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Chamber of Commerce to discuss ways to develop agricultural cooperation and increase agricultural exchanges between Iraq and Lebanon by facilitating the transfer of products and exchanging information and experience.
The President of the Lebanese Economic Organizations, former minister Mohammad Choucair, received the Iraqi Minister of Agriculture who arrived in Beirut on Wednesday evening at the head of an economic and ministerial delegation, along with caretaker Minister Hajj Hassan.
Choucair considered this meeting to be a great opportunity for both countries because the agricultural and food sector offers “great added value and promising opportunities.”
He added, “On this basis, I have invited various stakeholders in the agricultural sector and others concerned with the transportation sector to develop an integrated cooperative vision in the agricultural field and facilitate exchange and necessary procedures to transport products in the best possible way to both countries’ markets.”
Choucair pointed out that many Lebanese agricultural products can be exported to Iraq and vice versa. “We are here today to examine this issue and develop a list of these products, and also to propose a vision and a working mechanism to foster cooperation within the agricultural field and increase agricultural exchange between the two countries,” he assured.
