The opening ceremony of the 12th Agriculture, Agricultural Technologies and Livestock Fair (GAPTARIM) was held with the participation of Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli.

12th Agriculture, Agricultural Technologies and Livestock Fair, (GAPTARIM) Middle East Fair Center, organized by Akort Fuarcılık with the support of Gaziantep Chamber of Industry (GSO), Gaziantep Commodity Exchange (GTB) and KOSGEB, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. (OFM) was opened to visitors.

The opening ceremony was attended by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli, Deputy Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry Ayşe Ayşin Işıkgece, Mehmet Hadi Tunç, Gaziantep Governor Davut Gül, AK Parti Gaziantep Deputies Nejat Koçer, Mehmet Sait Kirazoğlu, Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin, Gaziantep Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Adnan Keçeci, Iraq's Consul General to Gaziantep Hasan Abdulwahid Majeed, Şahinbey Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu, Şehitkamil Mayor Rıdvan Fadıloğlu, Oğuzeli Mayor Mehmet Sait Kılıç, Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce Council President Mehmet Hilmi Teymur, Gaziantep Commodity Exchange Board Chairman Mehmet Akıncı, GAIB Chairman of the Coordinator Ahmet Fikret Kileci, Gaziantep Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Mehmet Karayılan, Chairman of the Board of Akort Fairs Hülya Akkaya, corporate managers and protocol members attended.

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY BEKİR PAKDEMİRLİ:

WE CAME TO GAZIANTEP WITH THE GOODWILL OF 9 PROJECTS VALUE OF 915 MILLION LIRA

In his speech at the opening of the fair, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli emphasized that Gaziantep has a great contribution to the agricultural sector thanks to its strong agriculture and livestock potential, “In the last 19 years, Gaziantep's agricultural production has increased significantly. The value of plant production reached 6.1 billion liras with a 14-fold increase, and the value of animal production reached 3.1 billion liras with a 15-fold increase. In the last year, Gaziantep's total agricultural production value increased by a record 78 percent, making it the most developed province in Turkey. Gaziantep is a city that sends products not only to Turkey but also to the world.”

Mentioning the investments to be made in Gaziantep, Minister Pakdemirli continued his speech as follows:

“We came to Gaziantep with the good news of 9 projects worth 915 million liras. With the first part of Kayacık Irrigation, we will complete the irrigation network construction of 16 thousand decares of agricultural land in Oğuzeli. We are completing the construction of the irrigation network of 6,100 decares of agricultural land with the 4th Section Irrigation with the Guided Irrigation. With Islahiye Güneş Dam Irrigation, we will ensure that 5.040 decares of agricultural land is irrigated with a modern system. Hopefully, we will have made the construction tender tomorrow.”