Egyptian Aladdin Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, received a high-level delegation from China’s Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals (ICAMA), the government authority responsible for the regulation, registration and oversight of pesticides in China. The delegation was headed by Huang Xiujie, Director of ICAMA, and included Yang Mao, Director of the General Office, as well as representatives of a number of Chinese and Egyptian companies. The attendees included Adel Abdel Azim, Chairman of the Agricultural Research Centre; Hala Abo Youssef, Head of the Agricultural Pesticides Committee; Saad Moussa, Vice Chairman of the Centre; Mohamed Abdullah Saleh, Secretary-General of the Pesticides Committee; and a number of ministry officials and senior manufacturers and representatives of private-sector pesticide companies. The visit falls within the efforts to strengthen scientific, technical and technological cooperation between ICAMA and the Ministry’s Agricultural Pesticides Committee, and to consolidate the strategic partnership between Egypt and China in the management, registration and monitoring of agricultural pesticides. During the meeting, the Agriculture Minister said that the partnership with China is a key pillar of the Ministry’s strategy to develop the agricultural sector. He stressed the Egyptian state’s efforts to create a favourable investment climate and provide all necessary facilities to attract and empower investment, with a focus on areas related to the agricultural sector, including pesticides and agricultural inputs. Farouk added that Egypt attaches great importance to strengthening the role of the private sector, promoting local manufacturing and encouraging joint investment. He noted that transferring and localising modern technologies in cooperation with Chinese expertise would help build a national industrial base for producing high-quality pesticides in line with international standards, thereby supporting self-sufficiency and reducing the import bill. He also explained that investing in human capital and training young people is top priority for the the Ministry. The cooperation will include specialised training programmes and the transfer of modern knowledge to young engineers and researchers to enhance pesticide monitoring and integrated pest management systems in line with the latest international practices, he said. The Agriculture Minister also praised the efforts of the Agricultural Pesticides Committee. He stressedthat the Ministry will continue to open up new avenues for technical and industrial integration and cooperation with China. Such efforts will support sustainable agricultural development plans and strengthen food security, he noted. During the meeting, Hala Abo Youssef, Head of the Agricultural Pesticides Committee, presented a draft memorandum of understanding between Egypt’s Agricultural Pesticides Committee and China’s ICAMA, paving the way for the necessary procedures for its signing. The MoU aims to establish an institutional framework for the exchange of expertise, development of regulatory systems, and capacity building in technical and research fields. She explained that the Chinese delegation’s programme includes field and practical visits to a number of national pesticide manufacturing plants in 6th of October City, as well as export-oriented citrus and vegetable farms in Beheira Governorate. The visits will provide an opportunity to assess pesticide use and good agricultural practices on the ground. For their part, the Chinese delegation expressed their appreciation for the cooperation with Egypt’s Ministry of Agriculture, describing it as “fruitful”. They also praised the significant development observed in Egypt’s agricultural sector and the promising investment opportunities offered by the Egyptian market. The delegation stressed ICAMA’s commitment to transferring and localising the latest global technologies in pesticide manufacturing, developing safe and effective compounds, and providing technical and training support to Egyptian professionals. They added that these efforts would contribute to Egypt’s sustainable agricultural development efforts and strengthen its export capabilities in global markets. The post Egyptian Agriculture Minister discusses localising pesticide production, technology transfer with China’s ICAMA first appeared on Dailynewsegypt.
