Bilateral meeting with H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Tashkent - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, met in Tashkent during the Director-General’s two-day visit in Uzbekistan, to discuss current collaboration and means to further strengthen relationships between FAO and Uzbekistan. 

The President welcomed the Director-General in Uzbekistan and expressed his appreciation for the strengthened collaboration between FAO and Uzbekistan, noting in particular the co-organization of the Land-Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs) Forum on Food Security and SDGs, which he noted was of particular importance not only for these countries, but globally.

The President further noted it remained important to keep food security as a priority on the global as one third of the world’s population was still food insecure. In this regard, the President expressed his full support for FAO’s flagship Hand-in-Hand, 1000 Digital Villages, and One Country One Priority Product Initiatives. The President also noted that as an outcome of the LLDC Forum, the government would create a Secretariat for follow up actions and would invite FAO to participate.

The President said that Uzbekistan considered FAO as strategic partner. He added that the Minister of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, who had already visited FAO twice, would be heading the Uzbeki delegation to attend the World Food Forum in October 2024.

The President further stated that agriculture remained a priority for him as it was key to the fight against global food insecurity, especially in the long term. He emphasized that FAO provided a unique platform for Uzbekistan, and beyond, and suggested several areas of possible new collaboration with FAO, including the creation of a regional genetic bank for drought and disease resistant seeds; the development of an action plan to digitalize agriculture; investment projects on irrigation systems, livestock and agri-logistic centers; and work to support the reduction of food waste, among others.

President also briefed the Director-General on the country’s policies on poverty reduction and requested FAO’s technical expertise, science and innovation for projects on the agricultural use of dry basin of Aral Sea.

The FAO Director-General, in turn, congratulated Uzbekistan for its leadership role in addressing food security issues in LLDCs and reiterated that Uzbekistan should be represented at the highest level in the Third UN Conference on LLDC in Botswana. He informed the President that during his meeting with the Minister of Environment of Uzbekistan they had discussed the creation of a FAO Land Degradation Monitoring system to be used at country and regional level.

The Director-General reaffirmed his commitment for the reduction of food loss and waste, in line with the President’s vision, and briefed in on FAO’s ongoing work in this regard, FAO.

Both agreed to continue working together to scale up cooperation in the country and in the region.    

During his visit, the Director-General also met with H.E. Jamshid Khodjaev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan. During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the Director-General work since taking office in addressing the challenges of LDCs and LLDCs. The Director-General noted that, in this regard, he had strategically established the new FAO Office for LDC, LLDCS and SIDS. He further added that Central Asia had great potential to become a fruit basket for environment and climate change restoration.

The FAO Director-General also met with H.E. Ibrohim Abdurahmonov, Minister for Agriculture of Uzbekistan who warmly welcome him to the country and noted that the successful LLDC Forum was a reflection of their collective efforts. The Director-General expressed his hope that Uzbekistan and other countries would use this Forum to strengthen their relationship with each other and with FAO. The Director-General invited the Minister to establish direct collaborations with the relevant technical divisions in FAO for focused technical support in key priority areas for the country.

Finally, the Director-General also met with H.E. Aziz Abdukhakimov, Minister for Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan during which the Minister briefed him on recent projects and activities aimed at raising the public awareness on use of natural resources for agricultural production and informed that Uzbekistan would be present with a dedicated stand at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November this year.