Read-out of the FAO Director-General’s meeting with João Gomes Cravinho, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Portugal

Lisbon - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today met João Gomes Cravinho, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Portugal, at the sidelines of the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) taking place in Lisbon from 27 June till 1 July 2022.

The Director-General expressed his appreciation to Portugal for hosting the Conference, which is a unique opportunity to support the realization of SDG14.

The Director-General acknowledged the key role of Portugal as an important partner for FAO’s work. Portugal could be a global leader in supporting agrifood systems transformation in developing countries making use of the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative and the Blue Transformation Programme Priority Area.

Minister Cravinho commended the role of FAO as the leading United Nations Specialized Agency working to achieve sustainable agriculture development and food security. The Minister highlighted, in particular, the key role of FAO in supporting the United Nations Ocean Conference.

The two discussed the impacts of the war in Ukraine on international food security and the efforts taken by FAO to address the issues related. They stressed the importance of keeping international trade and markets open and the need to strengthen market transparency and policy dialogue, including through the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS).