Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh “Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan”, the President of UAE, His Excellency Sheikh “Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan”, Minister of Culture, Youth, and Community Development, in the presence of His Excellency Sheikh “Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan”, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Chancellor of UAE University, is inaugurating the “Fifth International Date Palm Conference” in the “ Emirates Palace Hotel”, which is organized by the University, from (16^th) to (18^th) of March, with the participation of (39) Arab countries.

The topics on the conference agenda include the status quo of the date palms cultivation in the world, the molecular and genetic engineering, the gene bank of the palms, the tissue culture method for the rapid propagation, agricultural practices, pests and diseases control, post-harvest technologies, manufacturing and nutrition, and economics and marketing.

Dr. “Ali Rashid Al Noaimi”, UAEU Vice Chancellor, clarified, in the press conference which was held on Sunday (9^th ) of March, that the conference has a wide range of participations from the Arab countries and the world, including foreign countries that participate for the first time in this conference, namely; “Georgia”, “Serbia”, Ethiopia”, “Albania”, and “The Netherlands”, which highlights the importance of this scientific event and the recommendations provided, which will have a great impact on the development of palm cultivation and dates production at the local, regional, and global levels. “Al Noaimi” ensured the keenness of his Highness Sheikh “Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan”, the President of UAE, on supporting the efforts and initiatives which aim to increase the productivity of dates, and achieve the best practices and the best possible benefits from date palm industry since (1998), in which the “First International Conference on Date Palms” was held, as the date palm has its historic, economic and social importance in the “UAE”. He explained that the country’s production of dates has witnessed a great leap recently due to the generous support of the late Sheikh “Zayed Bin Sultan AL Nahyan”.

At the conclusion of the press conference, he hoped for the international conference’s researches, deliberations, and recommendations to result in valuable additions to enrich knowledge, and the technologies for the cultivation, industry, and trade of the date palm, noting that, during the event, there will be an organization of drawings and photographs exhibition. There will also be a display of the dates’ production, the by-products, and an organized program for agricultural guidance related to the date palm, which illustrates the modern agricultural practices.