RIYADH: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has chosen Saudi Arabia as the main sponsor for the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture announced on Wednesday. “The Kingdom is a major sponsor of the International Year of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022,” the ministry tweeted. The ministry noted that the goals of IYAFA 2022 include increasing the growth rates of the fishery sector, enhancing the sector’s role in achieving food security, and providing new job opportunities for the youth. Other aims include improving the quality of life in countryside communities, increasing the current production to meet the global needs for seafood, and encouraging organizations to face climate change and manage natural resources for water planting. Saudi Arabia is working with major companies to provide an integrated infrastructure in the fishery sector to boost production and increase marketing opportunities, said Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdul Rahman Al-Fadli in a statement.  FAO chose Saudi Arabia as main sponsor for International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. (Ministrys tweet) The minister’s statements came on the sidelines of the Saudi International Marine and Exhibition Conference that concluded in Riyadh on Tuesday. This will accordingly help increase investments in the sector, the minister added. The Kingdom’s increasing population and the harmful practices to the marine environment, which directly weigh on fisheries and aquatic life, are factors that should prompt the state to develop the fish farming industry to achieve food security, said Al-Fadli, who also heads the National Fisheries Development Program. The Kingdom’s direct spending on the sector amounts to around SR1 billion ($266.6 million) distributed among infrastructure, research, and localization since the sector is of major significance in increasing exports and the gross domestic product.