The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment accompanied the delegations of the MED9 member states on thematic visits to the province of Famagusta.
Our aim as MED9 member states is to reach a joint communiqué that will give a strong message in the direction of a holistic approach to water, ensuring the resilience and sustainability of the people of the Mediterranean against the problem of water scarcity, said the Minister of Agriculture , of Rural Development and Environment Dr. Maria Panagiotou. The Minister accompanied the delegations of the MED9 member states on thematic visits to the province of Famagusta, which related to infrastructures that Cyprus has created both at the level of agricultural holdings and at the level of the state.
In statements to journalists after the end of the visits to an agricultural farm/hydroponic production in Ormidia and the wastewater treatment facility in Ayia Napa, the Minister mentioned that "Cyprus is presiding for 2024 of the MED9 alliance". The Ministry of Agriculture, like other Ministries, he added, "have seized the opportunity to organize Synods on the island, inviting their counterparts - each time in a different province - precisely so that our guests can have a good picture of what is happening in Cyprus".
The Minister pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture has chosen "the province of Famagusta, which was predominantly agricultural". He informed that today is the second day of the work of the Synod, adding that it is a great honor for Cyprus to host the Ministers of Agriculture of nine member states of the European Union. "The Commissioner of Agriculture is also watching the work of the Synod with us, which is considered very important, because it also shows the importance of the issue we are highlighting, which is of course the drought and its effects on the primary sector", underlined the Minister of Agriculture.
Today, Dr. Panagiotou continued, "we see the infrastructures available to the farmer and the infrastructures that exist on the farms, but also those that the District Organizations have at their disposal, such as the tertiary wastewater treatment in Ayia Napa, in order to be used for irrigation purposes".
"In the afternoon there will be bilateral meetings with the European Commissioner and all of this culminates tomorrow with the holding of the Summit", he noted in this regard.
"What we want and seek as Cyprus and what we ask as nine Mediterranean Member States, is to reach a joint communique that will give a strong message that we want a holistic approach to water to ensure the resilience and sustainability of the people of the Mediterranean in the face of the problem of water scarcity," he said.
"The second main issue we want", added Dr. Panagiotou, "is to have in this joint statement, which we will reach after the work of the Synod, the simplification of the processes with less bureaucratic procedures so that our farmers can have access to infrastructure and new technology and of course a Reserve, a Fund, a source from which we will be able to draw resources and the financial tools of the European Union to actually support our farmers who are under pressure".
"We have been discussing all this with my counterparts since yesterday and it is very important", he stressed. "We are united by common positions, common problems and common goals and we are here precisely to be able not only to diagnose the problem, but to put a further strong framework to be able to deal with it", explained the Minister of Agriculture.
Asked if during the meetings today they will meet with the Commissioner and the representatives of the Agricultural Organizations, the Minister confirmed that in the afternoon, in addition to the bilateral meeting with the European Commissioner, they will also meet with the representatives of the agricultural organizations. She informed that during her bilateral meeting with the Commissioner they will examine comparative requests of Cyprus to the European Union. This, he noted, "is also important at the time when the Summit takes place tomorrow, because the formation of the European Commission follows and it is very important that we have our positions".
This will be followed, he clarified, by the meeting with the agricultural organizations, with which, as he said, "we had, we have and I hope that we will continue to have this very good cooperation in order to jointly promote the requests and solutions that the farmers need us".
