BEIRUT: Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan said Wednesday human resources and skills development at the ministry are constantly improving with the employment of new, highly skilled staff.

“The issuance of appointment decrees to fill the vacant positions at the ministry and the signing of training agreements with international organizations like FAO, the French National Center for Scientific Research, the Lebanese University and finally with the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), contributed to this improvement,” he said.

His remarks came during the signature of a deal with CIHEAM in the presence of its director general, Vincent Dolle, secretary general of the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research and the acting director general at the Agriculture Ministry Samir al-Chami. The new deal with CIHEAM will provide 600 employees at the ministry with training to help improve the Lebanese agriculture sector.

The deal aims at training employees on using new techniques in rural development, food processing and agricultural economy. “The year 2010 marks the recruitment of highly skilled staff at the ministry, while the year 2011 is going to witness intense training and the improvement of employee performance,” he said.