Bangladesh will host the next Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific for the first time since Bangladesh joined FAO in 1973.
At the closing ceremony of the 35th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (#APRC35), the Member States acknowledged unanimously to the Government of Bangladesh’s proposal to host the 36th APRC in Bangladesh in 2022, an FAO press release stated today.
This indicates an achievement for Bangladesh during this year’s centennial birthday of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and as the country approaches its 50th year of independence next year.
The first Regional Conference was organized in Bangalore, India, in 1953. Bangladesh joined the Food and Agriculture Organization in 1973 and has been a fully active member but never hosted the APRC.
In each Regional Conference, convened every two years, results in recommendations that guide FAO’s work. Regional Conferences are an official forum where Ministers of Agriculture and other high officials from all Member nations in the region meet to debate challenges related to food and agriculture, thus promoting regional coherence.
This year’s APRC, which finished today, was hosted by the Royal Government of Bhutan and held via a videoconferencing platform on an exceptional basis in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Government Ministers and more than 400 delegates – including the private sector, civil society, academia, and technical experts in the food and agriculture sectors – from 46 member countries across the Asia-Pacific region participated.
The high-level Bangladesh delegation comprised five ministries: Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Food; Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Ministry of Finance.
“Bangladesh’s achievements are a lesson as to what can be done. Bangladesh is ambitious to achieve more, and continues to lead the way with strong support from the Government and FAO,” FAO Representative in Bangladesh, Robert D. Simpson said.
Simpson told the 36th Session of the APRC will be a great opportunity for Bangladesh to show nations over the region what it has achieved, to share the lessons of its success, to lead the way in innovation.
