Bilateral meetings with Member Countries attending the 37th Regional Ministerial Conference for Asia and the Pacific

Colombo – On the sidelines of the 37th Session of FAO Regional Ministerial Conference for Asia and the Pacific, the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with the following Ministers and High-Level Officials from the region:

Bangladesh:

The Honorable Abdus Shahid, Minister of Agriculture

Bhutan:

The Honorable Younten Phuntsho, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock

Fiji:

The Honourable Kalaveti Ravu, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry;

The Honourable Tomasi Tunabuna, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Waterways

Japan:

Mr Suzuki Norikazu, State Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Malaysia:

His Excellency Mohamad Sabu, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security

Marshall Islands:

The Honorable Anthony Muller, Minister of Natural Resources and Commerce 

Nepal:

The Honorable Beduram Bhusal, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development

Palau:

The Honourable Steven Victor, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment

The Philippines:

The Honorable Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr, Secretary of Agriculture.

Samoa:

The Honourable T.H. La’auli Leuatea Polataivao Fosi, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries;

The Honourable Faleomavaega Titimaea Tafua, Associate Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Singapore:

Mr Baey Yam Keng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment

Viet Nam:

His Excellency Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

During the bilateral meetings, the Director-General thanked the Ministers and High-Level Officials for the continued support to FAO. He called on Members to further support the reform of FAO country offices and invited Ministers to attend the World Food Forum 2024 to be held in October at FAO Headquarters in Rome and virtually.

During the meetings with the Ministers from the Pacific Island Countries, the Director-General highlighted the establishment at FAO of the Office of Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries (OSL) to support the most vulnerable countries. The Director-General provided an overview of the work undertaken by OSL since its establishment and stressed the important and unique role that SIDS play in maintaining biodiversity, for human beings and for the planet.

Specifically, the Director-General assured the Pacific Island Members of FAO’s continued commitment and informed that an FAO team of experts would be visiting the SIDS, and all the Pacific countries to define challenges for each country and provide concreate tailored solutions, together with an action plan for the transformation of agrifood systems in the countries. The Director-General also reaffirmed FAO’s technical assistance and to serve as a platform for the subregion to support the development of agriculture and the conservation of the environment. 

In the meeting with Samoa, the Director-General thanked the government for hosting the FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands. The Minister and the Director-General highlighted the importance of agrifood systems transformation to support adaptation to climate change and to provide the solutions needed. The Minister thanked FAO for all the assistance provided and emphasized the challenges of achieving food self-sufficiency in the country.

In the meeting with Fiji, food security, agriculture legislation, resources mobilization, land scape restoration, value-added aquaculture and market access were the main topics of discussion. The Director-General also emphasized the importance of having a voice from the Pacific to the rest of the region.

In the meeting with Palau, the Minister emphasized the importance of supporting smallholder farmers and appreciated FAO’s focus in this regard. He also noted that it was important for the country to commercialize farming. In response, the Director-General referred to the FAO flagship initiatives, such as the Hand-in-Hand Initiative and the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative, which could provide opportunities for Palau to commercialize its agro-products, ensure market access to farmers, and identify suitable scale of commercialization for Palau.

In the meeting with Bangladesh, the Director-General praised the country for its efforts at being on the right track to modernization. He praised the commitment and achievements of the government regarding rural development and encouraged Bangladesh to share its experiences with others. The Minister and the Director-General discussed how to further strengthen cooperation, especially in food processing, aquaculture, and labor-intensive agriculture.

In the meeting with Malaysia, the Minister commended the Director-General’s leadership, lauded FAO’s innovative and responsible approaches to support its Members to meet challenges. The Director-General and the Minister agreed to strengthen collaboration on smart agriculture, and the Director-General encouraged Malaysia to establish a Trust Fund in FAO to further support countries in the region. 

In the meeting with Singapore, the pair expressed their satisfaction with the progress made with the FAO-Singapore Joint Programme on Food Safety. The Senior Parliamentary Secretary stated that access to food was essential, and that people needed to be educated on food. The Director-General stressed the need for consistent financial support in this regard. 

During the meeting with Bhutan, the transformation of agrifood systems in high mountain agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, as well as youth engagement and training were highlighted.    

In the meeting with Japan, the Director-General thanked Japan for being one of the top contributors to FAO. The Director-General noted that Japan and FAO should strengthen their joint work to support hotspot areas to maintain agrifood systems working. He also noted that Japan should strengthen its knowledge sharing with other countries in the region who could benefit from Japan’s experience in tackling challenges caused by industrialization and an aging society. The state minister called for an increased focus on ongoing challenges related to food security and pressure on resources and reiterated the importance of science and technology for addressing issues of food security. The pair also discussed further ways to integrate the region’s agrifood systems.

In the meeting with Nepal, the Director-General referred to their earlier meet at the beginning of the year and the pair reaffirmed their willingness to further expand collaboration. The Director-General reiterated that enabling policies, research, innovation, and investment were keys to transform agrifood systems. He also noted that establishing a national food safety monitoring system, and enforcing international standards, were essential for expanding markets and exportation of agricultural products. 

During the meeting with Viet Nam, the Minister stressed that FAO remained an important partner within the UN system for Vietnam’s agriculture and rural sectors. He thanked FAO for the support over the past 40 years and called on the Organization to continue providing support in areas such as agroecology, nutrition, agrifood product diversification, and food loss and waste. The Minister further expressed his willingness to participate in initiatives on innovation, digital agriculture, and agricultural environment protection. The Director-General congratulated Viet Nam on the substantial progress made in rural development and reaffirmed FAO’s support for related projects. The two agreed to further cooperate though the South-South Cooperation Programme to support African countries.

In the meeting with the Marshall Islands, the pair highlighted the need to creating attraction for the younger generation to farming. The Minister informed that labour was a huge challenge for the country with 2.1 million square kilometers of water and a population of just 42,000. He further said that malnutrition was another major challenge facing the country. The Director-General stressed the importance of healthy food education in adapting to healthy diets. He pledged to provide technical support to help the country achieve affordable and healthy diets through the development of vegetable and fruit production and healthy school meals.

During the meeting with the Philippines, the Secretary emphasized the crucial importance of achieving rice self-sufficiency. The Director-General congratulated the Secretary on his appointment and reaffirmed the willingness to support the country to develop agriculture and aquaculture for improved and stable incomes, improved livelihoods, and well-being.