Bangladesh will host the next FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific for the first time since its joining FAO in 1973.
At the close of the 35th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (#APRC35), the Member States agreed unanimously to the Government of Bangladesh’s proposal to host the 36th APRC in Bangladesh in 2022, a FAO press release said.
This marks an achievement for the country 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 held in Bangalore, India, in 1953. Bangladesh joined FAO in 1973 and has been a fully active member but never hosted the APRC. India has hosted it four times; Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand have hosted three times each; China, Republic of Korea, and Vietnam have hosted two times each; and Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have each hosted it once.
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 States in the region meet to debate challenges related to food and agriculture, thus promoting regional coherence.
This year’s APRC, which drew to a close 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 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 of five ministries: Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Food; Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Finance.
Members of the delegation representing Bangladesh included: Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Agriculture Minister; Sadhan Chandra Majumder, Minister of Food; Md Nasiruzzaman, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture; Dr Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum, Secretary, Ministry of Food; Abdus Sobhan Sikder, Ambassador, Embassy of Bangladesh, Rome, Italy; Dr Md Abdur Rouf, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture; Md Nazrul Islam, Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Md Towfiqul Arif, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; Mr. Rabbi Miah, Joint Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance; and Dr Md Ashfaqul Islam Babool, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
They were joined by FAO Representative in Bangladesh, Robert D. Simpson. “This is an exceptional and long-awaited achievement for Bangladesh,” Simpson said.
“The country’s progress in agriculture and food security over the past 40 years have been remarkable, particularly given the challenges of frequent natural disasters, population growth, decreasing arable land, and encroaching salinization”, he added.
“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,” Simpson said.
He said the 36th Session of the APRC will be a great opportunity for Bangladesh to show countries across the region what is has achieved, to share the lessons of its success, to lead the way in innovation.
