H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, the Minister of Environment and Water, met in his office at the Ministry with Dr. Asmahan Alwafee, the Director General of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), to discuss cooperation in joint ventures.

At the beginning of the meeting, His Excellency congratulated the selection of Dr. Asmahan for the post of Director General of the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and wished her the best of luck during her career path, stressing the U.A.E. support for biosaline agriculture and the development of modern techniques in order to achieve sustainable development, to increase self-reliance under the scarcity of natural resources which is topped by the scarcity of water,  and to improve soil quality, by expanding the research base,  adopting a scientific approach, along with capacity-building. His Excellency briefed the ICBA about the Ministry's strategic plan and its core routers, the U.A.E strategy for green development, the research that was completed in the past years and the research adapted to the agricultural arid conditions to achieve development in the field of productive agriculture.

     On her part, Dr. Asmahan Alwafee, Director General of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), has praised the importance of benefiting from the Ministry of Environment and Water initiatives, and reviewed the Center plans for the next phase so that a larger budget is allocated for research and to attract functional competencies and expertise that are able to develop and adapt technologies to meet future challenges in the field of productive agriculture development.

      The meeting was attended by H.E. Dr. Mariam Al Shenasi, the Assistant Undersecretary for Technical Affairs at the Ministry, H.E. Saif Al-Shara’, the Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture and Livestock Affairs at the Ministry, and Dr. Ahmad Al Sharif, the Deputy Director General of the International Centre for Biosaline agriculture (ICBA).