The CEOs of the provincial agricultural development support funds and product funds, in the presence of board members, advisors, and managers of the SFIDA (Supportive Fund for Investment Development of Agriculture) met with the Minister and his Deputy on Planning and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Agricultural-Jahad on January 8, 1403.
At first, Alizadeh Moghadam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of the SFIDA discussed the activities, performance, and programs of the SFIDA and the Agricultural Development Support Funds, and gave examples of the effectiveness of the funds in completing the production chain and the value of agricultural products, determining the price of inputs, exporting agricultural products, and so on.
Then, the Minister of Agriculture Jihad stated that the agricultural development support funds are the main pillars of this industry in financing, and said: A package of capacities and investment opportunities for the agricultural sector should be developed at the county, provincial and national levels to be presented to foreign and domestic investors.
Gholamreza Nouri, the minister, considered the funds to be one of the points of manifestation of the government’s interaction with the people and the private sector, and added: Agricultural support funds are important and effective institutions and can play a more important role than in the current situation and continue their path with greater strength.
He clarified: These support funds are interacting with each other financially, and in fact, the most difficult type of interaction is related to the way the funds work, which bring the people and the private sector together in the field of financing and investment support in the development of the agricultural sector.
The Minister of Agricultural-Jahad, stating that specialized funds in the field of exports should be activated, said: Specialized funds should use the products produced by the fund members for exports and creating an export market, because activating exports will support and strengthen production and have positive effects on the agricultural economy.
He clarified: The agricultural sector is the driving force of the country’s economy. According to the latest statistics, the agricultural sector’s economic growth in 1403 is ahead of other sectors with a growth of 2.9 percent, meaning that the agricultural sector is a pivotal and important economic activity in the country, which, along with the important issue of food security, is considered a driving economic activity and drives its previous and subsequent activities, namely industry and services.
In this meeting, the managers of various thematic funds supporting the agricultural sector presented reports explaining the investment status and activity trends in their fields of work.