Director-General meets Croatia’s Minister for Agriculture at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture

16 January 2020, Berlin - Director-General QU Dongyu today met with Marija Vučković, Croatia’s Minister for Agriculture, at the 2020 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture.

The Director-General congratulated the Minister for Agriculture and conveyed his best wishes for Croatia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2020 (1 January - 30 June).

Both parties expressed a willingness to strengthen FAO’s and Croatia’s collaboration, and Qu thanked Croatia and the EU for their important contribution to FAO’s work.

The Minister expressed appreciation for FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative and advised her country will support the Initiative during its presidency of the Council of the European Union and beyond – all with the aim of helping developing countries and reducing global poverty.

Croatia also supports a more visible role for FAO and the UN, and will participate in FAO’s European Regional Conference in May 2020.

Qu and Vučković also underlined the importance of good agricultural policies to support small scale farmers, food safety and plant health. Healthy plants are key for the ecosystem and sustainable food systems, and both parties acknowledged the importance of the International Year of Plant Health in 2020, launched by FAO last month.