Minister of Municipality and Chairman of the national committee for hosting the Horticultural Expo 2023 Doha H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie during an interview with QNA.
Doha, Qatar: Minister of Municipality and Chairman of the national committee for hosting the Horticultural Expo 2023 Doha H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie underscored the significance of hosting conferences and major events by Qatar, including agricultural exhibitions in quest of promoting its status on the map of vital international events.
He pointed out that the Expo 2023 Doha is considered the largest event to be hosted by Qatar after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which contributes to upgrading its pioneering status as a vital regional and international hub for major events.
In an exclusive interview with QNA, the minister pointed out that this global expo features the participation of 80 states and is anticipated to draw more than 3 million visitors over the next six months, adding that such a unique edition of the expo strives to promote the notion of green desert as a primary focus to be highlighted in the coming years.
He said that the event constitutes an opportunity to explore innovative solutions that address water scarcity, desertification problems, handling climate changes, establishing a platform that brings together persons and ideas to accelerate the pace of innovation, creativity, research and scientific progress in modern agriculture to produce a secure and sustainable food for world population.
The minister pointed out that this major global event largely contributes to updating the plans pursued by the ministry to further utilize the latest cutting-edge agricultural technologies, especially in agricultural digital transformation to achieve efficiency in production, ensure sustainability, preservation of natural resources, as well as achieve Qatar National Vision 2030.
This global event helps upgrade services, localize agricultural facilities, and promote local production through expansion in the utilization of cutting-edge crop production technologies that are appropriate for local climate settings to increase the space of planted areas and elevate the percentage of self-sufficiency from food commodities, carry out projects to optimise the efficiency of utilizing irrigation water in agriculture through using modern irrigation systems.
He emphasised that the event also contributes to establishing new projects in aquaculture, optimising local production of fresh fish, in addition to achieving a production boom that upgrades self-sufficiency rates in animal products to globally advanced rates in global food security indicator, and subsequently increase the strategic stock of key and essential commodities in times of crises and disasters.
Expo 2023 Doha promotes the bridges of communication between the Qatari private sector and its counterparts globally through their engagement in this global activity to further hold bilateral meetings to share expertise, as well as sign agreements and memorandums of understanding to reinforce cooperation in agriculture.
With regard to the expected role of Expo 2023 Doha in finding easy solutions to irrigation issues, reducing agricultural costs and adopting modern systems, the Minister said the Ministry of Municipality, over the past years, has attached importance to improving agricultural methods, raising the efficiency of irrigation systems, and reducing agricultural production costs. He pointed out that Qatar launched the initiative to plant ten million trees until the year 2030, within the framework of addressing agricultural challenges.
The Minister said that there are other initiatives related to methods of using modern irrigation techniques that save water and reliance on treated water, as rates of irrigation of green spaces using treated water in the State of Qatar have reached about 75 percent.
On Qatari farmers benefit from this global event, he affirmed that it provides an opportunity for farm owners to gain the expertise, technologies and modern experiences of the countries participating in the event.
He pointed out that the Organizing Committee of Expo 2023 Doha granted local farmers pavilions and additional spaces free of charge to facilitate their participation in the exhibition.
He said that that there are many initiatives and projects developed by the Ministry to increase green spaces in various parts of the country, including the Ministry’s development of 16 parks in different municipalities, in addition to a central park such as Rawdat Al Hamama Park, and the maintenance of many other parks that will be opened soon.
The Ministry’s efforts, over the past years, have also resulted in doubling the green spaces in the State of Qatar by more than 10 times since 2010, as the number of public parks increased from 56 parks in 2010 to 143 in 2023, an increase of 164 percent, and the per capita share of green space increased from 1 square meters in 2010 to 14.7 square meters in 2023, in addition to expanding the initiative to plant one million trees to 10 million trees by 2030.
