Inauguration of the Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia

Ankara, Turkey, 11 July 2007

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Ministers,
Ambassadors,
Distinguished Delegates,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me first to express my gratitude, and the gratitude of the various delegations, to the Government of the Republic of Turkey , represented by His Excellency Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the warm welcome and fraternal hospitality extended to us since our arrival in Turkey . We are grateful to him for having personally made the necessary arrangements to ensure that all facilities are made available to the Organization, enabling the smooth operation of the FAO Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia .

In recent years, FAO has undertaken major reforms in order to adapt to a changing global environment. It has thus endeavoured to react more effectively to the new expectations of its member countries, refocusing its technical assistance and operating procedures in order to attain the goals of the World Food Summit and the Millennium Development Goals.

My proposals, which placed strong emphasis on decentralisation, were approved in 2005 by the FAO Conference and in 2006 by the FAO Council. That framework allowed the Organization to begin establishing new sub-regional offices in Africa and Central Asia .

The multidisciplinary expert teams are specialized in agricultural policy, investment, water and land management, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, and plant and animal production and protection. The sub-regional offices are headed by a Coordinator and form an integral part of the regional offices. They enjoy a high degree of autonomy, which enables them to react quickly and efficiently to requests coming from countries in the sub-region and their economic integration organizations.

In addition to the host country, this Office covers the following six countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan .

The Turkish Government has kindly put buildings and office equipment at the disposal of the Organization, contributed to the annual operating costs and appointed seven junior technical officers to work with the senior experts from the FAO. After two years of training and familiarization with problems of food and agriculture in the sub-region, they will return to their ministries and institutes and be replaced by a new group of junior technicians.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my very deep gratitude to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Government for the Republic of Turkey’s continued support to the FAO, since it joined the Organization in 1948.

I am convinced that the creation of the Sub-Regional Office in Ankara will fulfil the expectations of the countries of Central Asia and contribute to our common struggle to achieve food security for all people of the sub-region.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Back to 2007 statements