Bilateral meeting with the Minister for Agriculture of Uzbekistan, H.E. Ibrohim Abdurahmonov

Rome - FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E Ibrohim Abdurahmonov, Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, met in Rome on the sidelines of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe (ERC) to discuss ways to further foster collaboration between FAO and Uzbekistan.

The Director-General welcomed the Minister and praised the high representation from Central Asia at the ERC. The Minister confirmed his Government’s interest in close cooperation with FAO, and noted that the name of the regional ministerial conference should be amended to also include Central Asia.

The Minister informed of Uzbekistan’s intentions to organize a Special Forum on Land Locked Countries and Food Security in Tashkent in September 2024 to bring together leaders from these countries to share experiences, and requested FAO’s support for organizing the event.

The Minister further highlighted the need to strengthen the country office in Uzbekistan with technical staff to ensure effective support on the ground.

The Director-general also referred to the Country Office Network – a policy paper presented at the ERC34, aiming in strengthening the Organization’s work at country level and proposes measures to address current challenges, prioritizing and tailoring support to the countries’ specific needs.

Both agreed to continue working together towards the successful transformation of agrifood systems.