His Majesty King Abdullah II affirmed the importance of the agricultural sector as a basis for socio-economic development and a crucial factor for combating poverty and unemployment particularly in rural and badia regions.

During his visit to Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday, the King stressed the importance of exploiting opportunities in this vital sector to improve citizens' living conditions, and to implement programs aim at creating job opportunities and support Jordanian youth.

"Both the private and the public sectors should coordinate their efforts to develop the agricultural sector", the King stressed calling for adopting institutionalized frame in planning and implementation in accordance with the national strategy program objectives for agricultural development to create a legislative environment and suitable climate for the private sector to boost investment in this sector.

His Majesty the King affirmed the importance of supporting Jordanian agricultural exports through upgrading local agricultural products according to international criteria so as to meet the world market demands.

Minister of Water and Irrigation and Minister of Agriculture Hazem Al Nasser gave a briefing on means of implementing the national strategy for agricultural development and the new methods of training agricultural cadres in all rural and badia areas. He noted that agricultural sector contributed in creating 114,000 job opportunities, as 15 per cent of population depend on agriculture.