Bilateral meeting with the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock of Paraguay, H.E. Carlos Giménez

Rome – The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met with the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock of Paraguay, H.E. Carlos Giménez, on the sidelines of the World Food Forum, which is taking place at FAO headquarters in Rome from 16 to 20 October.

The Minister expressed his appreciation for FAO's technical assistance for the sustainable development of agricultural sectors in Paraguay. He noted that the government of Paraguay has focused on promoting public-private partnerships to increase investments in agrifood systems, such as for example to improve meat, milk and banana production, as well as aquaculture. The Minister noted that the FAO Hand in Hand Initiative was an important tool in this regard.

The Director-General highlighted that FAO has been supporting Members in increasing livestock production in a sustainable way, which also includes breeding, animal feed, animal health and zoonosis. He encouraged the Paraguayan government to build a national brand on specific products and promote them internationally using FAO as a platform through the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative.

The Director-General also congratulated Paraguay for investing in public-private partnerships and noted that Paraguay’s food production is important for global food security.