SLOVENIA International Forum for Action on Sustainable Beekeeping and Pollination Welcome Reception & Beehive Inauguration Remarks

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends, 

It is a great honour for me to come back to this beautiful green country. I guess there are a lot of bees and other pollinators in the mountains and in the grass, and they enjoy the good environment here.

Within 100 days – I have never been received with such an intense treatment in any country, including China. I could not make a second trip within the 100 days. Why? Because with your dedication, with your commitment, with your efforts, together with all colleagues from Slovenia, FAO, and all over the world.

I am also so happy to see that the President of Apimondia is here. Along with all this support we are starting a historical forum.

We have so many big and small fora, but this one is special. Not only for Europe, for Slovenia, a country name with a LOVE in the middle, and also a country in my heart.

I met the Honourable former Minister of Agriculture Dejan Zidan, about ten years ago. He asked me to support and initiate the World Bee Day.

That touched me because when I was the Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences 22 years ago, we have a national institute on bees and pollination, and lots of people know that, but not so many politicians realized that kind research.

However, the modern research on bees and pollination is from Slovenia. Not many people outside Slovenia know you have one of the pioneers in bee science and technology. You can ask your colleagues - as a test - to give you an exam on how many people know that you have one of the modern scientists on bee research. This is something that gives me have a special close feeling with your country.

Bees are not only for honey. Bees are for everything. Without bees, the world would have become silent. Without bees, we do not have flowers. Without bees, the world would not have harvest. Because bees are not only an insect that makes noises, but they bite you sometimes. Kids are afraid of bees, but bees are a close friend of this planet and people. This is the true value of bees and its family, pollinators.

When I was a plant breeder, I would have appreciated all the pollination by bees and the pollinators.

Bees improve the yield and the quality of vegetables and fruits, other crops, and all the grass in the semi-arid and arid areas.

Only the bees work for us day and night, Non-stop, individually, and collectively. If we ask our workers to work extra hours, they are asking us to pay more, but we never get a complaint from the bees. They work for us day and night without complaining, without pay. That is the real generous and most intelligent animal on this planet.

One thing that makes us different from other animals. We have to learn how to appreciate it, to the plant, to the animals, to the small bee. The first, that is a pin with a golden like bee, a gift from the honourable Vice-Premier, reminds that we should appreciate the small bee.

Second, what is the mandate of FAO which was established in 1943 during World War 2? Ninety percent of the population at that time suffered from hunger. Now, we still have a lot to do together, about 10 percent of people. It is a big achievement but in the modern civilization we need to secure food. Not only for staple food, also for healthy food.

What does healthy food mean? Staple food from the rice, wheat, corn or barley, grain food. As well as vegetables, fruit and all the animal proteins from aquaculture, from poultry and from livestock.

We also need to protect the environment, and biodiversity. From biodiversity to food diversity, increase the products from different animals, from the bees, pollinators again. Food diversity is based on biodiversity, but bees are key animals to help us.

For FAO, we must support developing countries, but also, we have to support the middle, middle-high income ones even in Europe and OECD Members to address the global challenges together: biodiversity loss, degradation of the environment, and others.

That is part of FAO’s mandate that was established in 1943. We have not yet accomplished this mission. We have to work together.

Not only in hotspot areas. In Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan, Syria. You name it. But also nowadays in Europe, in OECD countries, at least 10 percent of the people have no affordability to healthy food.

Food security has three components: food availability, food accessibility and food affordability. Slovenia is a high-income country and has no problem with availability and accessibility. But I do think that for some small proportional scale, it still has a problem with affordability.

That is why, even in a country like Slovenia and other least-developed countries, LDCs, LLDCs, SIDs, about 90 countries.

That is the common vision for FAO, based on the Basic Texts and our mandate. We want to work together with all the Members, 194 Members. No matter whether big or small, rich, or poor.

Luckily Slovenia in not big. Big countries have lots of challenges, and you are not small and poor. You are lucky.

You are a sizeable country with a good, organized society, welfare, and social etiquette. Of course, you have your own challenges – big or small. Some small flooding might be big for you but not big for me. In my hometown, every year we face big flooding. For us it is not big.

Every country has big or small challenges, but you need to work together with new technology, with new responsive investment, and with enabling policies. FAO is your organization. We mean to work with you through these three aspects. That is why we established the World Food Forum.

One pillar is empowerment of Youth and Women, including Indigenous Peoples.

The second is Science and Innovation.

The third is Investment.

We offer a platform for you to share and to find potential partners. And that is why I am so happy to see the International Forum on Sustainable Beekeeping and beyond because I salute you through your efforts.

Now you have really used the bee as real diplomacy to help the people, help the Members, help the most needful people, and that has given me no excuse not to come back within one hundred days to support you and work together.

So, for that I wish you good luck and good success tomorrow.

I am excited to see the successful first ever International Forum. Once it is your first, you already make history. No matter if it is big or so impactful, and when you retreat history – I am from China so 5000 years of history, and maybe 500 years later they say that the first intelligent forum on beekeeping started from Slovenia. That marks a historic contribution. A small one like a small bee, but with a big impact.

Let’s do it!

Thank you.