Director-General meets Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina at FAO headquarters

Rome – The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, today received the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina, Santiago Andrés Cafiero, at the Organization’s Headquarters in Rome.

In the meeting, They alluded to the Director-General’s recent visit to Argentina (3-4 April), in which he met President Alberto Fernández as well as several national and local authorities to discuss ways to strengthen collaboration. In that occasion, the new Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2022-2025 was signed.

Minister Cafiero also stressed Argentinian efforts to expand its agricultural frontier in a sustainable way, particularly in the region of the Bajos Submeridionales (Submeridional Lowlands), for which the Government has been requesting FAO’s technical support.

He mentioned Argentinian efforts to invest in innovation, biotechnology (such as drought resistant wheat) and big data satellite imagery. The Minister also reaffirmed Argentina’s commitment as a global provider of food and technology.   

The Director-General stressed the role of Argentina as a global food producing country and FAO’s commitment to help the country to transform its agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.

He highlighted that the Hand in Hand Initiative and its Geospatial Platform can greatly support Members in the collection and use of big data. The Director-General also noted that South-South and Triangular Cooperation can provide an interesting mechanism for Argentina and FAO to share knowledge and innovation with developing countries around the globe. In this regard, he referred to the two new thematic strategies – Climate Change and Science and Innovation – that will be submitted to the FAO Council (June) for endorsement.

In addition, they noted the importance of tackling Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and investing in aquaculture to address the growing demand for animal protein as well as preserve marine life and oceans’ sustainability.