Growing cooperation between the UAE and Mexico in developing the palm sector
SAN LUIS RIO, 30 November / WAM / His Excellency Cesar Iván Sandoval James, Mayor of the City of San Luis Río Colorado, stressed the importance of holding the Fourth International Festival of Mexican Dates, and the growing role of cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and the United Mexican States in developing the palm and date sector.
He explained in a statement to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, that the festival constitutes a pioneering platform that brings together producers, experts and academic bodies to enhance the exchange of knowledge and innovation, and to support initiatives aimed at improving the quality of production and expanding opportunities for international partnerships.
For her part, Her Excellency Dr. Liz Alschuler, President and CEO of Sonoran University of Health Sciences, said that the festival was the result of cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the State University of Sonora in the United States of Mexico, and the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation of the Zayed Human Legacy Foundation, which contributed to organizing a comprehensive event that brought together the entire Mexican date industry, along with the academic community, including professors, students, researchers, the private sector and packaging companies, in addition to the general public.
She stressed that this cooperation contributed to enhancing the presence of various actors in the date palm sector, expressing great gratitude for the support provided by the government of the United Arab Emirates to enable the establishment of this type of festival.
In turn, His Excellency Dr. Abdul Wahab Al-Bukhari Zaid, Secretary General of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, explained that the festival succeeded thanks to the efforts of all participants, from the Award’s General Secretariat, international participants, researchers, students, companies, and date palm producers in San Luis Rio Colerado and Mexicali, Baja California.
He stated that Mexico is the fourth largest producer of Medjool dates in the world, and that 94% of its production is concentrated in this variety.
He added that Mexican dates are internationally recognized and compete with the best producers in the world in this variety, explaining that Mexico produces about 20,000 metric tons of dates annually.
He pointed out that the value of Mexican date exports exceeds what is achieved by many major producing countries, and is superior to many producers despite the limited volume of production, because it produces the most valuable variety in the world, which is the Medjool date (Mejhoul).
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