The ministers were briefed on the facility, which was
established in 1973 by seven members specializing in flowers and ornamental
plants. By the late 1990s, the facility shifted its focus to the production and
packaging of vegetables and fruits.
The cooperative has grown to 167 members, managing over 300
hectares of farmland in the heart of Santo Peninsula, producing a variety of
vegetables and fruits. It follows an integrated quality system, monitoring
crops from planting to harvest, and applies modern agricultural technologies
through specialized laboratories in cooperation with the Ministry of
Agriculture.
Farouk and Fawzy met with the cooperative’s board chairman
to gain insight into its operations. They praised Italian cooperatives for
increasing farmers’ incomes, stabilizing product prices, adding value to
produce, and providing training, highlighting the importance of adopting
similar approaches in Egypt to achieve sustainable development.
The visit comes within the framework of Egypt’s commitment
to exchanging expertise and learning from international experiences to enhance
the role of agricultural cooperatives. It aims to support the country’s
sustainable development priorities and strengthen bilateral cooperation with
the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM)
Bari Institute, in line with the recently signed memorandum of understanding.