News and Events 2004

Syria-EU Association Agreement

On 19 October 2004 the Syria-EU Association Agreement was paraphrased in Brussels with the participation of the NAPC Director, Mr A. El Hindi, who actively contributed to the negotiations on agriculture with particular reference to raw and processed materials as well as fish products. The Agreement is expected to expand the Syrian market access as well as to further develop cooperation between the country and Europe.

Syrian-Turkish Free Trade Agreement

NAPC has actively participated in the preparation of the agricultural file concerning the Syrian-Turkish Free Trade Agreement that was signed in September 2004. NAPC is also involved in the following up of the conclusion of the Syrian-EU Association Agreement.

Project Steering Committee Meeting

On 28 and 29 June 2004, the FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA Steering Committee held its fifth meeting, which was opened by Mr N. Rasheed Mohammed, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Mr A. Cascone, Counselor for Economic Affairs at the Italian Embassy in Syria, and Mr M. Taher, FAO Representative in Damascus.

The Committee discussed the future of the NAPC and its perspectives, acknowledged its recent progresses, and endorsed the Work Plan for Phase III of the Project, which has received further funding from the Italian Government for other 3 years of activity.

NAPC Information System

In order to enhance and develop the NAPC Information System, Mr T. Cornford, Professor at the London School of Economics and international FAO consultant, visited the Center in March and May 2004.

During his visits, the expert assessed the current status of and future options for the information and communication activities of the NAPC.

Syrian Accession to the WTO

In May 2004, the FAO international consultant Mr D. Mc Clatchy started, with the support of the NAPC, a study on Accession to the WTO: procedures, issues and lessons for Syria, drawing on the experience of the recently acceding countries such as Jordan.

Beside the study, Mr Mc Clatchy has provided on- the-job training to 4 NAPC researchers in elaborating technical documents required for the negotiations, with special references to calculations of the Aggregate Measures of Support (AMS) and options for Tariffication.