His Excellency Dr. Thani AlZeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, successfully held a meeting today (February 22, 2016) with farmers and fishermen from the UAE northern region at the Al Dana Hall in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK). The meeting is part of Minister AlZeyoudi’s move to conduct a series of visits to the Northern and Eastern regions aimed towards highlighting the Ministry’s commitment to brief and update members of society with current environmental concerns and what the Ministry is doing to address them. H.E. AlZeyoudi's visit also reflects the Ministry's keenness to support the fishing and farming profession, which are considered one of the oldest professions in the UAE and constitutes an essential part of the Ministry's strategy to help achieve the objectives of UAE Vision 2021.
During the meeting, Minister AlZeyoudi expressed the Ministry's strong focus towards the further development of the agriculture segment in the UAE. He also spoke about their continued support to help the farming profession and to protect the agricultural crops from pests through continuous coordination with the relevant local authorities, in order to enhance agricultural sustainability and food security in the UAE.
The farmers also briefed the Minister with the challenges they face, especially in the agricultural production process. In response, AlZeyoudi pledged the Ministry's support to provide the farmers with effective solutions. He also affirmed the Ministry's commitment to conduct regular inspections to check on the status of agricultural crops in order to get better agricultural yields according to the highest international standards.
Meanwhile, Minister AlZeyoudi also stressed the Ministry's continuing support for local fisher folk, particularly in the move to further enhance the fishing profession, develop local fisheries and to promote coordination among UAE fishing cooperatives. He also cited the fishermen for their efforts to promote sustainable fisheries. The fishermen also shared their views, requirements and recommendations to help reinforce between the fishing industry and the concerned government agencies, which are tasked to develop the profession as it is an important economic resource for the UAE.
Minister AlZeyoudi later visited the Fishermen Association's headquarters in RAK, along with nearby fishing ports--looking to identify development initiatives needed to improve the infrastructure and ensure an ideal fishing environment that can further strengthen the economic resources of the country.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has recently been conducting field visits in areas of fishing and agriculture. The series of visits are aimed towards finding out more about the challenges of the two professions and to help develop solutions to address them, which are part of the goals set by the environmental sustainability strategy.