by Hummam Sheikh Ali
DAMASCUS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A number of florists have opted to take part in the ongoing Flowers Fair in Damascus to boost their stranded businesses during the war.
At the sprawling Tishreen Park in Damascus, several florists took part in the fair, showcasing flowers as well as aromatic and medical plants and herbs for the visitors.
Iraqi and Lebanese florists also took part in the fair which opens its doors for foreigners and Arabs.
It's the second year that the fair takes place during the crisis, which, like many other activities, came to a halt as a result of the deteriorating situation after the beginning of the 2011 crisis.
However, after the departure of the rebels from eastern Damascus and the military operation to secure the vicinity of the capital, the fair, and other exhibitions and activities returned to Damascus.
At one corner in the Tishreen Park, Bashar Qatil coordinated a number of plants with names on them.
"Our participation is special and our prices are symbolic. We have more than 50 types and our focus is on the medical and aromatic plants," Qatil, owner of a plantation in Hama city, told Xinhua.
He said that their participation is special this year after they managed to strike deals with Iraqi merchants last year, hoping that he could boost his business through foreign contracts.
"Our benefit from the fair is that we showcase our products to foreign companies taking part in the fair and we could strike deals with them," he said.
Fahed Muhammad, another florist, said that the participation of Iraqi and Lebanese florists in the fair also helps the local ones to learn new things and enhance their relations with foreign markets to export the Syrian medical and aromatic herbs.
Visitors have been thronging the park since the opening of the fair earlier this week, some of whom are attached to this fair which has been taking place in Damascus since 1940.
"The Flowers Fair is something beautiful in Damascus and it represents our culture. The green color we see here is relaxing," Wissam Najjar, a victor, told Xinhua.
The woman said that she had missed the fair when it was closed during the war, as it has become a cultural activity in Damascus throughout the years.
"We missed the fair during the war and when we heard that it re-opened last year, we came. This year, we came again," she added.
During the crisis, large swathes of agricultural land were either burned or damaged by the war.
The Syrian army has so far secured Damascus and Daraa, but the al-Ghab Plains in Hama are yet to be secured.
Syria's Agricultural Minister Ahmad al-Qadiri was cited recently as saying that the losses that have affected the animal and agricultural sectors in Syria between 2011 and 2016 amount to 16 billion U.S. dollars.
The minister noted that one of the main reasons behind the losses is the Western sanctions on Syria, which affected the exports of agriculture and imports of the agricultural production tools.
