English 
Under the auspices of Professor Dr. Abdelaziz Konsowa, President of Alexandria University, the Faculty of Agriculture in El-Shatby organized on Saturday the 30th of December 2023, the second workshop for farmers, producers, and those interested in the tomato value chain project, in the presence of Mr. Saso Podlesnik, Ambassador of Slovenia to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Dr. Mohamed Bahey El-Din, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, vice-deans, a number of faculty members, and representatives of UNIDO in Cairo.
In his speech, Dr. Mohamed Bahey El-Din conveyed the greetings of the University President to His Excellency the Ambassador, and thanked him for participating in supporting the service center for the tomato value chain to be established in the faculty in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), with the full support of the university and with the participation of experts from the Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, the Department of Food Science and Technology, and the Vegetables Department at the faculty. He pointed out that the life of the project so far is about 30 months and it is expected to be inaugurated in the coming months. Dr. Bahey El-Din also explained that the project aims to establish a service center for the tomato value chain within Alexandria University for training in tomato manufacturing processes and to increase the amount of tomatoes manufactured in Egypt, which so far does not exceed 3-4% of the production amount, which amounts to about 8-9 million tons annually.
In his speech, the Ambassador of Slovenia expressed his pride in supporting the comprehensive and sustainable development of the tomato value chain in Egypt, explaining that his country’s participation in establishing an education and service center for the tomato value chain comes within the framework of their previous commitment to establishing a technologically advanced nursery in the Nubaria region. The Ambassador pointed out that development cooperation is an important part of Slovenia's foreign policy, as it contributes to achieving more balanced and just global development, and his country also focuses on gender equality and environmental protection as the cross-cutting issues of their projects, including this project, which aims, inter alia, to increase the economic and sustainable participation of women in the tomato value chain, explaining that tomato is considered one of the most important vegetable crops in Egypt, and the same is true in Slovenia.
At the end of the meeting, the Dean presented the Faculty of Agriculture Shield to His Excellency the Ambassador, and then Dr. Heba Sabry, Vice Dean of the Faculty for Community Service and Environmental Development, accompanied His Excellency the Ambassador on an inspection tour of the manufacturing hall (service center) in the Department of Food Science and Technology and some of the various departments of the faculty, to learn about their various activities.
