Yesterday, the Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) Xiangjun Yao, presented her credentials as FAO Representative to Fiji to the Permanent Secretary (PS) for Office of the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs, Mr Yogesh Karan.

At the ceremony and subsequent bi-lateral meeting, Yao and the Permanent Secretary discussed the current areas of support FAO provides to the Government of Fiji and explored new initiatives and engagement opportunities, particularly to support Fiji’s national development priorities - accelerating climate actions, enhancing oceans conservation, and boosting resilient, bluer, greener economic recovery.

Yao thanked the Permanent Secretary for the warm reception and expressed her gratitude for the chance to serve as the FAO representative for Fiji. In addition, she noted looking forward to collaborating closely with the Fijian government to strengthen the existing partnerships and create new ones in order to further the country’s sustainable development goals and priorities.

“FAO commits its continued and strengthened support for an agri-food system transformation that provides healthy, affordable and accessible diets for all in a sustainable manner in the context of the Pacific, including Fiji where challenges such as climate change and impact to food security because of Covid Pandemic and Ukrainian crisis coexist,” said Yao.

The Permanent Secretary welcomed the FAO Subregional Coordinator on behalf of Fiji’s Prime Minister Honorable Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama and congratulated Yao on her new role as FAO Representative to Fiji, assuring Fiji’s continuous support, especially in the areas of technical cooperation, knowledge sharing, as well as South-South and triangular cooperation. Mr Karan also highlighted the existing strong bilateral relationship between Fiji and FAO.

At the ceremony, Yao briefly introduced various ongoing projects and programmes to support Fiji in the areas of climate change resilience, agriculture and food security, evidence-based decision making, food system transformation, biosecurity, animal health, forestry and many others. In addition various future initiatives have also been discussed, which will be implemented in the upcoming years by the FAO Office in the Pacific with the support from FAO regional office and FAO headquarters.

Yao assumed her role as the FAO Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands in October 2020, however, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was not able to officially present her credentials in person up until now. Yao oversees FAO’s work in providing technical support to its 14 member Western Pacific countries to improve food security, income earning opportunities in agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, and increase the resilience of small farmers and producers in the Pacific. Yao joined FAO in June 2011, initially at its Rome headquarters, and has held leading roles within the agency.

During her visit to Fiji, Yao also held meetings with Fiji’s Minister of Agriculture, Hon Mahendra Reddy, Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, and Health, Ambassadors of China and Japan, High Commissioners of New Zealand, UN Resident Coordinator, and representatives of sister UN Agencies and other partners, including the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).