Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning (MMUP), Dr. Jumaa bin Ahmed Al-Kaabi met with the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Jose Graziano da Silva at the ministry in January 2014.

The minister said that the wise leadership allocates a great concern for the developing process of the fish farming centre, due to its great importance in providing an essential food element, which is fish, particularly in the light of the increasing growth population to achieve sustainable development and the Economic Vision 2030.

The meeting was held in the presence of Undersecretary of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Shaikh Khalifa bin Isa Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of Municipalities Affairs, Dr. Nabil Mohammed Abu al Fath, Assistant Undersecretary for Marine Resources, Engineer Abdullah Abdul Latif, Director of Fisheries, Ibtisam Khalaf, and a number of officials at (MMUP).

The minister pointed out that Kingdom of Bahrain has worked as a part of the fifth strategic plan of (FAO) for the years 2011 to 2015, which included developing the legislation concerned with animal health, and the most important was the law of the animal welfare, the law of the veterinary products and the law of practicing veterinary medical professions.

The minister said that fish farming is one of the pillars that can be relied upon for the development of natural fish stocks, which is at present one of the economic development themes for countries due to the role played in providing food for the individual.

For his part, the Director General of (FAO) asserted the readiness of the organisation to provide all the technical support for Kingdom of Bahrain in all areas aiming at achieving food security.

Director General of (FAO) highlighted that his visit to Kingdom of Bahrain aims at presenting the priorities of the organisation for the region and defining the technical support Bahrain needs, expressing his admiration with the projects carried out by (MMUP) in the area of animal and fish resources.

For his part, and during the meeting, Shaikh Khalifa bin Isa Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of Agriculture and Marine Resources presented a brief on the applications of Soilless culture for vegetables production, agricultural incubators project, the farmers' market and the agricultural training centre that is being constructed in Horat Ali.

At the end of the meeting, Director General of (FAO) thanked the minister for the great reception and kind hospitality, lauding the long relations between the Organisation and Kingdom of Bahrain in the agricultural areas.