By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter
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The inaugural edition of the Doha International Flowers and Garden Exhibition got under way at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) park yesterday.
Held under the patronage of HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, the exhibition will conclude tomorrow.
HE the Minister of Environment Ahmad Amer Mohamed al-Humaidi opened the three-day show by cutting a beautifully decorated ribbon and toured all the pavilions at the park. Around 50 exhibitors from Qatar and outside are taking part in the exhibition.
Speaking to Gulf Times, HE al-Humaidi said the exhibition would send the right message to the people of the country about the types of trees and flowers that are suitable for Qatar.
“We would also like to introduce to the public and local businessmen the types of trees and flowers that are in demand and suitable for the country,” he explained.
The minister was of the view that the first edition of the exhibition would provide greater motivation for the organisers to come up with more ideas and involve greater participation next time.
“This is a good show and we would like to make it bigger in the coming years. The whole world is becoming a small village and flowers and trees from all corners of the world are here to make it feel so.”
He also said the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Municipality & Urban Planning are deeply involved in the project. “We try to introduce new types of techniques and trees to the public for greater awareness. We hope that the show will help Qatar become greener,” he added.
Dr Saif al-Hajiri, chairman of the Friends of the Environment Centre (FEC) said the exhibition would help create greater awareness among the public about different flowers in the country as well as from abroad.
“FEC has already kick-started the 17th edition of the ‘A Flower Each Spring’ programme with a Qatari plant, under the name Thanoun (Cistanche phelypaea), which is a coastline flower. This exhibition is the beginning of organising all people involved in this field and hopefully it will be a larger international show from next year. We are part of the programme and plan to support the initiative.”
