Referring to the top capacities of West Azerbaijan province in the field of agriculture, the President said, "Agriculture in the province should not be hindered, but it is necessary for the province's dear farmers to be convinced that the cultivation pattern in this province changes according to climatic conditions to meet the country's needs".
Speaking on Saturday morning at the end of the 21st provincial trip of the government to West Azerbaijan province, Ayatollah Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi said, "The needs and priorities of the destination province are taken into account and during the trips, the programmes are so intensive that they continue until late at night and provide a kind of trouble for the host".
Saying that West Azerbaijan is one of the hubs of agriculture, mining and tourism in the country, the President added, "One of the important priorities of this province and of course the neighbouring provinces is the restoration of Lake Urmia. Measures have been taken in this direction but have not yet achieved the desired result".
Referring to the 50% increase in trade from the border terminal of West Azerbaijan, Dr Raisi said, "There is a capacity for double development of trade from the terminal of this province, but this depends on several measures, including the 24-hour operation of customs".
Referring to the serious will of the government to develop trade with neighbours, Dr Raisi said, "There is no doubt that West Azerbaijan province can play a pivotal role in regional trade and prioritising the neighbourhood policy".
The President also stressed the need to avoid hasty decisions and frequent changes in regulations, saying, "It was decided to activate border markets as soon as possible in order to develop trade within the province's borders".
Ayatollah Raisi also referred to the problems of the province in the field of medical centres, saying, "The government has focused on faster completion of semi-finished projects, and accordingly, in West Azerbaijan province, completion of semi-finished projects, including in the field of health and treatment is paid attention to".
The President said that the trip had 157 resolutions in various fields of roads and urban planning, agriculture, energy, education and health, and said, "In this trip, the construction of 49,000 housing units in line with the government's promise to build 4 million housing units in 4 years started in West Azerbaijan so that people can see the solution of the problem and reduce the cost of housing".
Dr Raisi mentioned the establishment of irrigation canals, watershed management, aquifer management and desertification as other government programmes for the development of West Azerbaijan and added, "Agriculture of the province should not be hindered, but it is necessary to convince the farmers of the province to cultivate in accordance with climatic conditions".
The President called the move towards self-sufficiency in the production of basic goods a strategic necessity for the country and said, "This happens when agricultural lands are allocated to the cultivation of basic goods not in an orderly but in a priority way".
The President expressed hope that the implementation of the resolutions of this provincial trip will be pursued with jihadist work with the efforts of the managers of West Azerbaijan so that the people can feel the results.
The President continued, "Efforts have been made to make the future situation for agriculture predictable so that farmers can plan for their cultivation". Efforts have also been made to remove all barriers to export surplus agricultural products by determining domestic demand.