CAIRO - 2 August 2022: The countdown has begun for the city of Aswan, in Upper Egypt, to host one of the most important heritage events in the country; the International Dates Festival, which will be held from 8 to 10 October.
Ashraf Attia, Governor of Aswan, stated that the festival comes under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to maximize the added value of more than 2.1 million palm trees.
The festival will be organized in cooperation between the governorate, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation.
Attia pointed to the unlimited support from the governorate for the establishment of the 6th international festival for dates, which is the largest global platform specialized in marketing and investment for all products, with scientific and innovative support for farmers.
"We will work to produce this festival in a civilized and dazzling manner through good organization and preparation, taking advantage of the experiences and successes witnessed in the previous sessions of this important festival," he added.
Dr. Hassan Al-Shaqti, the economic advisor to Aswan Governorate, added that Aswan is considered one of the most important areas for palm cultivation, as it includes dry, semi-dry and seed varieties, and is concentrated in the governorate’s five centers, explaining that the aim of organizing this festival is to shed light on the palm sector, present investment opportunities in the governorate, market the most important varieties of Egyptian dates and encourage the production and processing sector of dates for export, in addition to identifying handicrafts from palm residues "secondary products" of fronds, arjun and kernels.
In this context, Dr. Amjad El-Kady, the festival’s coordinator, representative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and director of the Center for Food Industries and Food Processing, explained that the production of dates of high market value and required in international markets, especially the dates produced from the national project for the establishment of the largest date palm farm in Toshka, where statistics confirm a continuous and noticeable increase in the number of total and fruitful palm trees, reaching 3 million and 600 thousand palm trees.
Dr. El-Kady pointed out that the festival will be held in the Sheraton Park in Aswan and will be attended by all the producing and manufactured governorates, date exporters, suppliers of farm services, date factories, packaging materials and handicraft producers from palm waste, as well as exhibitors from Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan and Mauritania.
The festival activities will include setting up a bazaar area to display palm products, handicrafts, competitions, scientific seminars, folkloric shows and some cultural activities, in addition to honoring the producers of the finest Egyptian dates.
For their part, farmers in Aswan Governorate considered this festival a great opportunity for investment marketing of date products in Aswan Governorate, especially since Aswan is one of the most prominent producers of dates among the governorates of Egypt and on its large land areas of palm plantations, explaining that farmers in the date season export the Aswani product to the governorates of El-Wajh Al-Bahari, as Aswan is one of the producers of dry dates, and with the festival, there will be an opportunity for farmers to display their products within the exhibition, which will certainly be attended by senior people interested in agricultural affairs, especially the field of dates in Egypt and a number of other countries.
The farmers explained that Aswan is famous for its dry dates, including the dates: "Sukoti, Bermudi, Qandilah and Malkabi" and other varieties that are distinguished by Aswan cultivation and are accepted by major traders in Egypt, whether they are sold from inside Aswan or marketed outside the governorate in the major markets within the Arab Republic of Egypt.
They pointed out that the festival will also help farmers not only with regard to dates, but with other palm products, which are the so-called "secondary products" that have entered into many industries and environmental handicrafts, which Aswan is also famous for its manufacture and excelled in by many inside Aswan, which are natural products from the "palm palm". The state does not incur financial burdens in manufacturing or in exporting.
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