The Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations agencies accredited in Italy, Siwan Barzani, assumed the presidency of the Near East and North Africa Group of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the handover ceremony took place at the organization’s headquarters in the capital, Rome, in the presence of the organization’s director general, Shaw de Nieuw, who praised the great and important role of Iraq through his delegates in managing the group for the period 2021-2022, and the successful hosting of the capital, Baghdad, for the regional conference that was held on May 2-7/8/2022, looking forward to following up the important international decisions that came out of the meeting and Iraq’s strategic plan and projects in the coming years, which are related to food security and the development of agricultural and irrigation methods, depending on the great technological development that the world is witnessing in all fields.
According to the statement, the Ambassador mentioned in his speech that Iraq, through his delegation in Rome, will do its best to add innovation and renewal, adopt initiatives and unify visions, taking the opportunity to inform the Director-General of the organization and the permanent delegates about Iraq’s recent signing of a memorandum of understanding in the agricultural field, in both its vegetable and animal parts, among Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, with the aim of enhancing trade exchange in order to achieve agricultural integration between the four countries, as well as continuous cooperation in addressing the phenomenon of climate change and supporting rural development and agricultural extension.
For his part, the Director General expressed his aspiration for the four countries to cooperate with the organization in a way that serves its goals, calling on the member states to consider joining this agreement, in which joint cooperation will be enhanced in a way that serves the interests of the countries of the Near East and achieves the well-being of their peoples.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency