ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
26 August 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
ICARDA and Oman Sign a Memorandum of Understanding
ICARDA Director General, Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy welcomed the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in the Syrian Arab Republic, H.E. Mr Hilal Ben Salem Al-Sayabi (right), and described the Center's mandate and research activities.
H.E. Mr Hilal Ben Salem Al-Sayabi, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in the Syrian Arab Republic, visited ICARDA on 22 August 2004 to get acquainted with the Center's research and development activities and sign an agreement for the establishment of a Seed Technology Unit in the Sultanate of Oman. H.E. Mr Al-Sayabi was accompanied by H.E. Mr Kassim Askar Jubran, Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen in Mauritania.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA Director General, welcomed the guests and briefed them on the Center's mandate, research activities and achievements. The visitors, accompanied by Dr Tony van Gastel, Head of the Seed Unit, and Dr Adel Abou Nagga, Senior Advisor, DG Office, met with members of ICARDA's senior management and scientists in the Biotechnology Laboratory, Genetic Resources Unit, the Seed Processing Center, and the Computer and Biometrics Services Unit.
H.E. Mr Hilal Ben Salem Al-Sayabi (left), Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in the Syrian Arab Republic, and Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (right), ICARDA Director General, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Center's headquarters on 22 August 2004.
H.E. Mr Al-Sayabi signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Prof. El-Beltagy for the establishment of a Seed Technology Unit in the Sultanate of Oman. This work will be done in cooperation with the Arabian Peninsula Regional Program (APRP).

H.E. Mr Al-Sayabi expressed his appreciation of ICARDA's role in strengthening the agricultural sector in the Sultanate of Oman and hoped that the opportunities for collaboration will further increase.

Prof. El-Beltagy thanked the guests for visiting ICARDA and assured them of the Center's continued collaboration with the Sultanate of Oman.
Visit to the Seed Unit. Left to right: Mr Abdul Aziz Niane, Research Associate, Seed Unit; Dr Adel Abou Nagga, Senior Advisor, DG Office; H.E. Mr Kassim Askar Jubran, Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen in Mauritania; H.E. Mr Hilal Ben Salem Al-Sayabi, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in the Syrian Arab Republic; and Dr Tony van Gastel, Head of Seed Unit.

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org) serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.
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