In Erbil ... 'Five Thousand Tons of Potatoes to be Exported to the UAE
On Monday evening, July 22, 2024, in the presence of Omed Khoshnaw, Governor of Erbil; Sarwar Kamal, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Trade; Karim Suleiman, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture; Gaylan Haji Saeed, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the representative of the UAE Consulate in Erbil; Director Generals of Trade, Agriculture, and Investment; and a number of businessmen and farmers, a special ceremony was held at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This event, which is part of the Kurdistan Regional Government's 9th Cabinet's focus on the agricultural sector, marketing farmers' products, and providing continuous support, marked the beginning of exporting 5,000 tons of local potatoes from Kurdistan Region's farmers to the United Arab Emirates. This export is based on an agreement between 'Awra' company from the Kurdistan Region and the Emirati company 'Najoom Safwani', and it's taking place for the second consecutive year.
At the signing ceremony of the agreement between the two companies, the Governor of Erbil, while expressing gratitude to the Erbil Chamber of Commerce and Industry for organizing the event, highlighted that this work is another important step by the Kurdistan Regional Government towards further advancing the marketing of local farmers' products, which is an objective of the 9th Cabinet led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. He also stated: 'The 9th Cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government, as part of its work program, has greatly developed the agricultural sector and local farmers' products. This is aimed at strengthening Kurdistan's economy and diversifying sources of income.'
Subsequently, an agreement was signed between the two companies (Awra from the Kurdistan Region and Najoom Safwani from the UAE). According to this agreement, as the first phase, four containers of local potatoes from Kurdistan Region's farmers, amounting to approximately 100 tons, were dispatched to the UAE today. The export process will continue for 15 to 20 days until all five thousand tons are sent to that country.
It's worth noting that annually, on an area of 86,453 dunams of land, more than 800 thousand tons of potatoes are produced in the Kurdistan Region. Over the past five years, the level of potato production has increased by 900%. According to statistics, during the tenure of the 9th Cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and due to continuous support for farmers and investors, the volume of investment in the agricultural sector has risen from 1.8% to more than 9% of the total investment process in the Kurdistan Region. Last year, for the first time, more than 13,000 tons of local potatoes from Kurdistan Region's farmers were exported to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This year, there are plans to export more than 25,000 tons of farmers potatoes to Gulf countries.
