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Published on September 5, 2020
Bangladesh will host the 36th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the first time since it joined the organisation in 1973.
FAO is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque revealed the information at a views exchange meeting with journalists after the 35th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of FAO at Hotel Intercontinental, the agriculture ministry said in a release today.
Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the 35th FAO Asia-Pacific regional conference, organised by Bhutan this year, was held through video conference from September 1-4. The regional conference of FAO is held every two years.
The first regional conference was held in Bangalore, India, in 1953. Bangladesh joined FAO in 1973 and has since been a fully active member but never hosted the APRC.
During the briefing, the minister said that China, India, Bhutan, Iran, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia directly supported and agreed to Bangladesh government's proposal to hold the 36th conference in Bangladesh.
The FAO regional conference is a formal forum where the ministers of agriculture and other senior officials of the member countries meet to discuss food and agriculture challenges and solutions.
Stressing that Bangladesh has achieved unimaginable success in agriculture and food security in the last 40 years, the minister said the country is now self-sufficient in granular food despite the challenges of natural disasters, population growth, declining arable land, climate change and increasing salinity in the south.
This achievement has made Bangladesh a role model and example for other member countries, he added.
India has hosted APRC four times, followed by Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand three times each; China, Republic of Korea, and Vietnam two times each; while Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have each hosted it once.
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