PM meets with agriculture, water and labour ministers

AMMAN — Prime Minster Hani Mulki on Sunday visited the Ministry of Agriculture, where he met with Agriculture Minister Khaled Hneifat, Water and Irrigation Minister Hazem El Nasser and Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi. 

During the visit, Mulki also met with the directors of the Agriculture Ministry’s various departments, and discussed the need for the budget to prioritise those governorates with high concentrations of agricultural production.

The prime minister also stressed the importance of the agricultural sector as one of the “most important sectors” in the national economy due to its relationship to citizens’ food and health

The agricultural sector has witnessed good yields since the beginning of the year, Mulki said, urging  that it be maintained and strengthened.

Mulki also noted that the government is in the process of preparing the 2018 state budget, which he said will be “different” from previous budgets in terms of budget allocations based on governorates.

The prime minister argued that the increase in the quality of agricultural products over the last 10 years, especially in tree plantations, has allowed access to new markets, based on quality, rather than quantity.

He noted that, while the overall quantity of agriculture exports has decreased, revenues have increased, which he argued indicated that the sector was “moving in the right direction”. 

Mulki also said that the Kingdom’s weather is conducive to quick periods of agricultural production, stressing the importance of further increasing production, with the involvement of the ministries of industry and trade.