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: http://www.icarda.cgiar.org
ICARDA
was pleased to receive a delegation of Australian Parliamentary Members
on 11 November 2003. The delegation consisted of Mr Sandy Macdonald (Leader),
Senator for New South Wales, National Party; Mr Kim Karr (Deputy Leader),
Senator for Victoria, Australian Labor Party; Mr Phillip Barresi, Member
for Deakin (Victoria), Liberal Party of Australia; Ms Joanna Gash, Member
for Gilmore (NSW), Liberal Party of Australia; and Ms Nicola Roxon, Member
for Gellibrand (Victoria), Australian Labor Party. Ms Joanne Towner accompanied
the group as Delegation Secretary. The delegation was escorted to ICARDA
by H.E. Mr Robert Newton, Australian Ambassador to Egypt, Sudan, Syria
and Tunisia; and Ms Suzanne Stein, First Secretary, Australian Embassy.
On behalf of Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director
General, Dr Mohan C. Saxena, Assistant Director General (At-Large), received
the distinguished visitors at ICARDA. The delegation had a luncheon meeting
with the Executive Management of ICARDA and Dr Ken Street, an Australian
national and Associate Expert on the staff of GRU. Dr Saxena and Dr William
Erskine, ADG (Research), briefed the delegation on the mandate and mission
of ICARDA in the dry areas of the world, designed to alleviate poverty
and hunger and protect the natural resource base. They acknowledged the
Australian support to ICARDA, and appreciated the contributions of both
past and present senior staff and Board members from Australia. They presented
examples of achievements made with financial support from Australia. Highlights
of ICARDA's work in rebuilding agriculture in conflict-torn countries,
such as Afghanistan, were also shared with the delegation.
Dr Ken Street briefed the delegation on the genetic
resources activities of the Center, including those recently initiated
in Central Asia. He emphasized the importance of Australian support in
the recent germplasm collection missions in Tajikistan, and the value
of the germplasm accessions collected.
After lunch, Dr Erskine gave a tour of ICARDA
laboratories to the visitors.
Later, at a Ramadan Iftar, the distinguished
visitors met with several senior officials from the Syrian Ministry of
Luncheon meeting. Left to right: Senator Sandy Macdonald, Delegation Leader;
Dr Mohan C. Saxena, ADG (At-Large); Mr Phillip Barresi, Delegation Member;
and Dr William Erskine, ADG (Research).
Left to right: Ms Nicola Roxon, Delegation Member; H.E. Mr Robert Newton, Australian Ambassador to Egypt, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia; and Ms Suzanne Stein, First Secretary, Embassy of Australia, Egypt.
Dr Michael Baum (right) briefing the delegation members on ICARDA's biotechnology research.
On his return to Cairo, Ambassador Newton wrote to Dr Saxena:
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the other members of your team for meeting with the Australian Parliamentary delegation during their visit to Syria. The Parliamentary Delegation welcomed the opportunioty to see such a wonderful facility at ICARDA and the possibilities to extend Australia's relationship with the Center.
"We would like to pass on our thanks to Dr Willie Erskine for organizing the briefing and tour of the facility…and a special thanks to Dr Faisal Maya for taking time out of his busy schedule to provide his valuable translating skills."
ICARDA's (www.icarda.org) mission is to improve the welfare of people and alleviate poverty through research and training in dry areas of the developing world by increasing production, productivity, and nutritional quality of food, while preserving and enhancing the natural resource base. ICARDA is a Future Harvest Center.