RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has highlighted its role in leading and unifying international efforts to develop the fisheries sector during its presidency of a special UN committee dedicated to the industry This came during the conclusion of the 36th session of the body, which was held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, and was chaired by the Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the FAO Mohammad Al-Ghamdi. During the meeting, Saudi Arabia reviewed its most prominent efforts to promote and develop the fisheries sector and achieve its sustainability during its two-year presidency, the Saudi Press Agency reported. This falls in line with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture’s continuous efforts over the past years to boost the fisheries sector, including establishing a national program to protect fish stocks and the industry as a whole, the provision of concessional loans to assist small-scale fishermen with the purchase of boats, along with initiatives to modernize ports in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. Moreover, during the session, Al-Ghamdi explained that Saudi Arabia played an integral role during its presidency in leading and unifying international efforts to develop the sector, indicating that the committee worked in its first phase to implement the outcomes and recommendations of the previous committee. He went on to note that the body’s efforts in the second phase focused on developing the performance of member states and interacting with main and subsidiary events to achieve its goals.