Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and H.E. Muhammad Karim Al-Khafaji, Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Iraq

27 January 2022, Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, today met virtually with H.E. Muhammad Karim Al-Khafaji, Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Iraq.

The Director-General expressed his appreciation to the Government of Iraq for hosting the Near East Regional Conference (NERC-36), which will take place in Baghdad on 7 and 8 February 2022 in a hybrid format.

The Director-General and H. E. the Minister for Agriculture discussed the ongoing preparations for the Regional Conference. They emphasized the importance of the Near East Regional Conference, which will discuss implementation of the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031, the Near East regional priorities, as well as the major challenges facing the region’s agrifood systems, including Covid19.

The Director-General of FAO confirmed FAO's continued commitment to supporting the agrifood sector in Iraq, including through the One Country One Priority Product programme (OCOP) and the FAO Hand-in-Hand initiative, building on the potential and the comparative advantages of the Iraqi agrifood products. FAO is currently working with the government through many initiatives, including the Hand-in-Hand (Date Palm production), Green Cities, the 1 000 Digital Villages, and Food Loss and Waste.

H.E Minister Al-Khafaji expressed the appreciation of the Iraqi Government for FAO's continued support to Iraq and the major agriculture projects supported by FAO in different regions in the country.