Members of the Supreme Political Council, Muhammad Al-Naimi and Dr. Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, along with Acting Prime Minister Muhammad Muftah, opened today the National Yemeni Honey Festival in its fourth season, which was held by the Municipality of the Capital, represented by the agricultural sector, with funding from the Agricultural and Fisheries Projects and Initiatives Financing Unit.
Sanaa - Sheba:
Members of the Supreme Political Council, Muhammad Al-Naimi and Dr. Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, along with Acting Prime Minister Muhammad Muftah, opened today the National Yemeni Honey Festival in its fourth season, which was held by the Municipality of the Capital, represented by the agricultural sector, with funding from the Agricultural and Fisheries Projects and Initiatives Financing Unit.
Al-Nuaimi, Bin Habtoor, and the scholar Muftah, along with the Deputy Speakers of the Shura Council, Abdo Al-Jundi, Dhaifullah Ressam, the Secretary of the Capital, Dr. Hammoud Abbad, the Acting Minister of Economy, Industry and Investment, Sam Al-Bashiri, and the Deputy Ministers of Electricity, Energy, and Water, Adel Bader, and the Minister of Information, Dr. Omar Al-Bukhaiti, toured the exhibition’s pavilions and the various types and types of honey products they contained.
They heard from the official of the agricultural sector in the secretariat, Muhammad Hajar, and the director of the agricultural and fisheries projects and initiatives unit in the secretariat, Abdullah Sharaf Al-Din, to an explanation about the goals of the festival, its various activities, and its role in supporting and enhancing the reputation and quality of Yemeni honey.
At the event, the Supreme Political Member, Dr. Bin Habtoor, expressed his thanks to the organizers of the festival’s activities, which carry economic, cultural, social and humanitarian dimensions, especially the Municipality of the Capital, for organizing from time to time such vital economic activity.
He saluted the pioneering role of the Acting Prime Minister in supporting this and other specific activities and his continuous follow-up of the achievements that occur here or there in this difficult circumstance due to the circumstances of the Saudi and Emirati aggression and blockade.
He expressed his thanks to Al-Wahda Club for organizing this positive activity that facilitated the access of producers, marketers and consumers to this product, distinguished by its characteristics and high quality, stressing the importance of developing scientific and research activities related to the development and promotion of various aspects related to the production and marketing processes of Yemeni honey locally and internationally.
Dr. Bin Habtoor pointed out that the steadfast Yemeni person in the capital, Sana’a, and the free governorates, has proven to the whole world that he is of a special raw material, as is the case with Yemeni honey, which has a special and distinct raw material, flavor, and taste.
He said, "We highly appreciate the directives and directives of the leader of the revolution and his words in which people are steadfast and steadfast in order to liberate the Yemeni decision, as well as the person who was shackled with multiple restrictions throughout the previous successive stages and was not given the real opportunity to be free, proud, brave, and generous," hoping at the conclusion of his speech that the festival will succeed and achieve its promotional and marketing goals.
In turn, the Acting Prime Minister pointed out the importance of the marketing festival for this important economic product in which hundreds of thousands of Yemenis work in supplies, education, production, marketing and selling.
He stressed that the honey product has become one of the most important monetary products with economic value that serves the national economy and that it is no less important and distinguished in its fame regionally and internationally than the coffee crop, indicating that God endowed this good town with a distinct vegetation cover and suitable weather and atmosphere suitable for producing the finest types of honey on the global level.
The scholar Muftah stated that the honey sector witnessed, during the years of aggression and siege on Yemen, a qualitative leap in terms of care, attention, and increase in the volume of production, as a result of the determination of the Yemeni people and their failure to surrender to the repercussions of the aggression and siege.
He pointed out that the Government of Change and Construction and the relevant civil institutions are concerned with paying attention to this product and continuously improving it in all aspects, caring for bees and ensuring their continuous protection from sources of pollution such as pesticides, toxins, and the unjust cutting of the trees on which they feed, and working to develop their food sources.
He revealed that the Government of Change and Construction has a deliberate and conscious program to plant millions of seedlings of trees that are sources of food for bees, most notably the Sidr tree, millions of which will be planted annually at the level of all governorates.
The Acting Prime Minister informed everyone about this matter that nurseries in one of the governorates have produced more than three million Sidr seedlings to date, at a time when other trees with multiple benefits are being studied, which feed bees, are a source of food for livestock, and enjoy greenery and shade.
He said, "Over the period from five to ten years, we are going to transform the mountain highlands and plateaus into vegetation according to a well-thought-out plan that takes into account the climatic conditions and water situation of the country."
He added, "All parties concerned with honey production are concerned with implementing plans aimed at increasing production from all veterinary aspects and creating the appropriate atmosphere for the reproduction of this noble creature and increasing the volume of production continuously."
Mark Muftah directed the Ministries of Economy, Industry, Investment, Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources to work to create a central laboratory with the highest international standards that would serve the process of development and quality assurance of the honey product, which generates billions of riyals annually.
He stressed the determination to deliver honey to various international markets, as well as coffee, almonds, mangoes, and the rest of the agricultural crops, despite the American and Zionist noses and their tools, threatening everyone who participated or begged themselves to sabotage the agricultural sector and target the Yemeni people, agents of America and Israel, by spreading poisons and pests to destroy trees with the harshest deterrent penalties and not tolerating any saboteur of Yemen.
The Acting Prime Minister called on marketers to intensify the marketing process for Yemeni honey in the local market instead of importing adulterated or low-quality honey.
The scholar Muftah concluded his speech by saying, “We have full determination to protect local products, especially honey, from fraud and forgery. Anyone proven to have committed fraud will have his name added to the blacklist and will be subject to multiple penalties commensurate with the extent of his targeting of these products.”
At the event, which was attended by the governors of Hadhramaut, Luqman Baras and Al-Mahra Al-Qatabi Al-Farji, and the local Secretary-General of the Capital Municipality, Amin Jumaan, the Mayor of the Capital, Dr. Abbad, praised the efforts made in preparing and coordinating to make the festival activities a success.
He touched on the successes achieved in the path of agricultural and fishery production, pointing out that the marketing mission in this vital and important sector represents support for the national economy and hundreds of thousands of workers in it, especially since Yemen occupies a distinguished rank at the national and global levels.
Dr. Abbad explained that Yemeni honey has a specificity in its composition, quality, quality, taste and healing process, such that it occupies a state of distinction among the global production group, noting the organization of such festivals to keep pace with modern technology in the production and marketing of Yemeni honey, as well as the permanent and promotional support for the product and strengthening its marketing mechanism locally and abroad, and raising awareness of the consumption of local honey within the daily dietary pattern of society.
He called on the private sector to have initiatives and contributions in marketing Yemeni honey, its productivity, canning and packaging, and supporting its products.
While Atef, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources for the Marketing Sector, considered the festival an annual demonstration to promote Yemeni honey and inform the community of its types and quality compared to foreign and imported varieties.
He pointed out the importance of the festival in preserving the historical legacy of honey production and marketing it in an ideal way, and keeping pace with modern developments and technology in production and marketing, noting that Yemeni honey is popular with consumers due to its high and distinctive quality, but it still faces many obstacles, including in the field of productivity, organization, marketing and the spread of adulterated honey.
Agent Atef stressed that the National Honey Festival, in its fourth season, is an opportunity to work to restore the status and reputation of this national product, promote it, and work to publicize its prices and varieties and circulate them to various stores, groceries, and restaurants, urging concerted efforts to promote Yemeni honey products, enhance its role in the national economy, and bring it to self-sufficiency.
The inauguration was attended by the heads of the social affairs, planning and services committees in the municipality’s localities, Hamoud Al-Naqeeb, Sharaf Al-Hadi, Adel Al-Aqari, the secretariat’s agents, the advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Engineer Samir Al-Hanani, the head of the Agricultural Cooperative Union, Mubarak Al-Qili, and local and executive leaders, businessmen, investors, and social figures.