Readout of Signing Ceremony between the FAO Director-General and Shameem Ahsan, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Italy and Permanent Representative to FAO

Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to FAO, Shameem Ahsan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the Sheikh Mujib Bangladesh Room at FAO Headquarters. The establishment of the Room marks the celebration of the 100^th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had a dream of building a nation free from hunger and poverty and initiated the “Green Revolution” in the agriculture sector of Bangladesh.

The Director-General congratulated Ambassador Md Shameen Ahsan on the establishment of the Sheikh Mujib Bangladesh Room and conveyed his appreciation for the close cooperation between FAO and Bangladesh. The Director-General saluted the strong support from the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to FAO and commended the country for its prospective graduation from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) category in 2026. He expressed the commitment of FAO to further strengthening collaboration with Bangladesh, and thanked the Government of Bangladesh for hosting the 36^th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC) in 2022. 

Mr Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, attended the event remotely and thanked the FAO Director-General for his invaluable support and cooperation. He stated that Bangladesh and FAO enjoyed wide partnership encompassing a large number of areas since Bangladesh joined FAO in 1973, within two years of its independence. He was pleased that Bangladesh and FAO enjoy close partnership and that Bangladesh would host the 36^th APRC (Asia and Pacific Regional Conference) in Dhaka from 8 to 11 March 2022. The State Minister valued FAO’s assistance and support in its development journey and strongly believed that FAO will go a long way in materializing a world free from hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

The Ambassador of Bangladesh moderated the signing ceremony, which was also attended by the Representatives of China, Thailand and  Indonesia (Chair of the Asia Regional Group). Other representative from the Asia Regional Group, India, Malaysia and the Philippines participated virtually.