Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani with other officials taking part in the opening session of the Izmir Business Days Forum, virtually.
Doha: Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani, participated with a recorded speech in the opening session of the Izmir Business Days Forum, organised via video conferencing. The Forum is taking place within the framework of the 91st edition of the Izmir International Fair, held on September 1-2, 2022, in the Turkish city of Izmir.
At the beginning of his speech, the Minister of Commerce and Industry extended his appreciation of the Izmir Forum topics that aim to chart the future prospects for the agricultural sector and the food supply chains, stating that it comprised one of the world’s largest humanitarian global issues.
“Undoubtedly the measures imposed during the past two years to contain the COVID-19 virus have been effective,” the Minister said, further referring to the repercussions of some measures that have contributed to exacerbating the challenges that different world countries have been facing for several years, especially regarding international trade, and the functionality of global supply chains for food and agricultural commodities.
Additionally, H E the Minister said that the recent developments had directly affected global food security and caused fluctuations in food markets.
He referred to the 2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report, devised by five international organizations including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The said report indicates that about 29.3 percent of the global population has experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021, i.e. an increase of 350 million people compared to the pre-COVID-19 period, His Excellency stated.
Moreover, His Excellency touched on the reality that some countries had resorted to adopting protectionist trade measures to curb the rise in food prices, as per the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank data issued in June 2022. The aforementioned reports highlight that around 25 countries have adopted export restrictions, affecting about 8 percent of global food trade, His Excellency said.
In this context, His Excellency stressed the firm belief of the State of Qatar that “any cross-border global crisis can only be resolved under the auspices of the international community,” elaborating that the repercussions of these crises affected all countries of the world, and their impact could be greater on countries that were largely dependent on basic commodity imports, especially developing and poor countries.
The Izmir Business Days Forum is an opportunity to discuss the innovative and efficient solutions and initiatives, which can facilitate trade, support global food supply chains, and enhance investment in agricultural technologies that are resilient to the effects of climate change, he further stated.
During his speech, the Minister of Commerce and Industry praised the close sibling relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkey, stressing that the said relations had been consolidated under the wise visions of both countries’ leaderships. Moreover, the depth of Qatari-Turkish relationships has positively reflected on the volume of trade exchange between them, which amounted to about $1.8bn in 2021.
Qatar’s participation in this year’s edition of the Izmir Forum is a significant occasion to consolidate the strategic partnership between the two sibling countries in terms of policies and plans, aimed at developing and promoting agricultural trade, to support achieving both nations’ common food security goals, the Minister said.
At the conclusion of his speech, the Minister of Commerce and Industry explained that the Forum represented a new opportunity to underscore Qatar’s firm commitment to strengthening international cooperation in various fields, in support of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at meeting the aspirations of all the peoples of the world to progress, development, and prosperity.
The Izmir International Fair is the first trade fair in the Republic of Turkey. Over the past nine decades, it has succeeded in becoming an important, diverse platform for exchanging views on global and domestic trends in trade and policy-making, as well as for forging new partnerships.
This year, the Fair features the Izmir Business Days Forum, themed: ‘Agriculture Trade: Establishing Resilient Global Food Supply Chains’. The Forum includes five dialogue sessions, featuring a number of speakers, including ministers, senior officials, experts, CEOs of major institutions and companies, as well as media representatives from different countries worldwide.
The sessions highlight a number of topics including: ‘Transformation in Agriculture: Green and Sustainable Agriculture’, alongside presenting ‘Agricultural-Based Specialized Organized Industrial Zones Application Examples’. The Forum also addresses ‘The Future of Agriculture and Food in A Changing World’, ‘Sustainable Agriculture and Food Trade’, ‘Food and Agriculture Products Export from the Perspective of Sustainability’, and ‘Current Trends on Maritime Agribusiness Logistics’.
