St. George’s, September 7, 2011 – Israel’s non-resident Ambassador to Grenada, Moshe Marco Sermoneta, has promised increased technical assistance for the local agricultural sector.

Mr. Sermoneta, who is based in the Dominican Republic, visited Grenada recently and met with several officials including Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, Foreign Affairs Minister Karl Hood and Agriculture Minister, Denis Lett.

Grenada and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1975.  Apart from bilateral assistance in areas such as education, Grenada has also benefitted from aid provided through CARICOM and the Organization of American States.

Israel is now trying to romp up its assistance, Mr. Sermoneta said in an interview shortly before leaving Grenada.

“We are not just trying to increase our technical assistance in the CARICOM region but also to give it a bit more emphasis,’’ he said.

In the specific case of Grenada’s agriculture, the ambassador said he sought understanding on “what are the priorities and where are the most important areas of action.’’

He said assistance to Grenada, such as technology transfer and training of agricultural officers, could be coordinated through the MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Centre for Cooperation.

MASHAV, as part of its mission since its formation in 1958, says it has “consistently made its priority the aims of poverty alleviation, provision of food security, empowerment of women and upgrade of basic health and education services, putting Israel’s own creative solutions at the disposal of the developing world.’’

According to MASHAV, “the formalization of these priorities in the Millennium Development Goals has only caused us to redouble our longstanding efforts to put Israeli solutions at the service of the developing world in order to further these aims.’’