Read-out of the Director-General’s bilateral meeting with the President of the Republic of Albania, Bajram Begaj

Tirana – Today the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met with the President of the Republic of Albania, H.E. Bajram Begaj, during a two-day visit to the country.

The President welcomed the Director-General to Albania and expressed his appreciation for FAO’s important mission to fight hunger and ensure food security, leaving no one behind. FAO is contributing to three out of four United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework outcomes.

The Director-General thanked the President for his kind invitation to further strengthen the cooperation between Albania and FAO on rural development and agrifood systems transformation.

The President underlined the unique characteristics of Albania, such as the favourable Mediterranean climate, availability of water, the long coastline and high mountains, which provide many opportunities for agri-tourism.

The Director-General referred to his meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Albania and reiterated the common objective of scaling and speeding up agrifood systems transformation and rural development in the country, highlighting some of Albania’s key advantages in agriculture, such as its rich biodiversity, which provide good investment opportunities in the agriculture sector.

The Director-General mentioned the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 that seeks to support the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems. He added that Albania could play a more active role in FAO, for example through active participation in the World Food Forum that takes place in October annually and share its experience with other Members.