Bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Samoa - The Honourable Fiame Naomi Mata’afa

Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, had a bilateral meeting with The Honourable Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Samoa, on the sidelines of the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment taking place at FAO Headquarters from 24 to 26 July.
The Prime Minister congratulated the Director-General for his successful re-election and said that Samoa, as a small state and current Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, looked forward to the fruitful outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment to further progress agrifood systems transformation.
The Director-General thanked the Prime Minister for hosting FAO’s Subregional Office for the Pacific since 1981, and for the ongoing support provided to FAO staff, especially during the pandemic.
The Director-General reaffirmed FAO’s willingness to support Samoa to transform its agrifood systems, and referred to the establishment of the Office of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) in FAO, which demonstrates the priority given to supporting these countries.
The Director-General also noted how the FAO High-level event on SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs held on 29 June 2023 at FAO would contribute to the 2024 UN Conference on SIDS, including through the establishment of a Ministerial network.
He further noted that the SIDS Solutions Platform has become a key initiative for FAO in the Pacific, with Samoa playing a major role as host of both the 2021 SIDS Solutions Forum and the 2022 Pacific SIDS Solutions Forum.
The pair further committed to supporting SIDS to ensure market access, protect biodiversity, build resilience to Climate Crisis and achieve the SDGs.