Greece to share its agro-tech expertise in support of Qatar’s self-sufficiency plans

Greece wants to share its expertise and innovations in agro-technology with Qatar in a bid to develop and support the country’s agriculture sector and self-sufficiency initiatives, a private sector official has said.Panagiotis G Mihalos, the chairman of the Greece-Qatar Business Council, said Qatar’s self-sufficiency efforts has placed the food sector and food security on the spotlight as the country continues to expand to new markets and tap alternative sources.“In line with the Qatar government’s efforts towards food security and achieving self-sufficiency, I hope we can play a role in all of this,” Mihalos told Gulf Times in an interview. Citing Greece’s “extremely developed” agriculture industry, Mihalos said plans are in the pipeline to follow up and promote exchange of expertise in the field of agriculture and agro-technology between the two countries.“Not only is Greece keen on playing a role as an alternative source of food imports, but we also want to provide Qatar the know-how to help our brothers to succeed and accomplish self-sufficiency in the food sector.“Qatar’s agriculture sector must be developed...the easy thing is food but we can also transfer our knowledge and technology in the agro industry so that we can walk hand-in-hand to help major players in the Qatari agriculture industry accomplish their objectives,” he continued.Asked about potential plans to establish Greek food processing facilities in Qatar, Mihalos said through joint ventures with Qatari investors, “it and could be the most efficient venue through which to transfer the technology and expertise.” Mihalos also lauded Qatar’s infrastructure in logistics and storage, as well as its capability to import a vast range of products.“This complements the country’s self-sufficiency initiatives in the food sector, and this provides an impetus for growth in the ports and logistics areas, as well as in storage. Qatar is acquiring all these and expertise, which the Greek private sector is keen on promoting,” Mihalos stressed.In its first meeting for 2018 held in February, Qatar Chamber’s Food Security and Environment Committee (formerly Committee on Agriculture and Environment) called for an “appropriate integrated infrastructure” to support food security projects in the country.During the meeting, Qatar Chamber board member Mohamed bin Ahmed al-Obaidly, who is the chairman of the Food Security and Environment Committee, said concerned authorities have allocated QR70mn to support productive farms during the current year.