FAO Director-General meets Poland’s President Duda in Warsaw
Warsaw - FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, was today received by the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, in the capital city during his visit to the country.
The Director-General thanked the President for hosting the 33rd Session of FAO’s Regional Conference for Europe (ERC) in the city of Łódź and for Poland’s longstanding support for FAO. He commended Poland for the successful modernization of its agrifood systems, from centrally planned to market based with increased global competitiveness, and highlighted that in this regard the country could be an example for Europe and the world.
The President underlined that Polish food quality is very high and produced with a low level of artificial fertilizers.
The Director-General and President Duda, who were meeting for the first time, addressed the current crisis in Ukraine and the impact on global food security. The Director-General stressed that food is a basic human right and that the coming months are critically important for key countries to work closely together to ensure stable food supplies. The President expressed his deep concerns about the fertilizer price increase, as well as the surging food prices in the past months, as shown by the FAO Food Price Index, that reached an all-time high in March/April 2022.
The Director-General and President Duda also addressed the current international scenarios, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis and the conflict in Ukraine. In addition, they discussed how to strengthen agrifood systems through green agriculture.
Before the meeting, the Director-General also met in Warsaw with Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Henryk Kowalczyk.