BEIRUT (Xinhua) – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday called on neighboring Arab countries to enhance agricultural cooperation to achieve food security amid the current international uncertainties.
“The global wheat crisis proved the need... to secure food stocks and a high degree of social security,” said Mikati when addressing an Arab agricultural ministerial conference attended by agriculture ministers and delegations from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.
He called for making “an integrated and well-studied plan” to boost agricultural cooperation in the region.
Mikati said that Lebanon, which suffers from political, economic, and social problems, looks forward to receiving support from the brotherly and friendly countries to restore its “pivotal role” within the Arab family.
Lebanese Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan said that Lebanon’s hosting of this event is nothing but a sincere expression of Lebanon’s desire to enhance Arab agricultural cooperation.
“It is an expression of the firm conviction that integrative Arab agricultural cooperation is the cornerstone for building stable Arab relations,” he said.