President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is on an official visit to Italy, visited the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome.
During a meeting with FAO Director General Qu Dongyu, the Head of State emphasized the importance of ensuring global food security and promoting sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex.
“Food shortage is one of the most pressing problems on the global agenda. Kazakhstan is striving to contribute to solving this problem. Our country is one of the leaders in the production of grain crops. The volume of wheat exports reaches about 6 million tons. We are among the top ten large grain producers and torment,” the Head of State noted.
The President confirmed Kazakhstan’s interest in expanding cooperation with the organization.
As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted, Kazakhstan is interested in UN expert support on improving seed production, combating agricultural land degradation, promoting green agriculture, rational and efficient use of water and land resources. Kazakhstan is participating in the FAO One Country, One Priority Product initiative, aimed at developing sustainable production and trade chains for the marketing of unique local agricultural products.
The head of state presented Qu Dongyu with the fruits of the Almaty aport.
“Kazakhstan is widely known as the birthplace of apples. Aport apples grow in the vicinity of Almaty, the largest metropolis of our country. We intend to jointly bring this variety to world markets. I count on your personal support in promoting this initiative,” President Tokayev said.
The head of state also spoke about the priorities of our country as chairman of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and the Islamic Organization for Food Security.
“Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on FAO to support the development of projects for land reclamation in the Aral Basin and water resources management. He also proposed creating a subregional office of the organization for Central Asia in Kazakhstan.
The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization noted the significant role of Kazakhstan in ensuring global food security and providing humanitarian assistance not only in the region, but throughout the world,” notes the Akorda press service.
In conclusion, the President thanked the head of FAO for the meaningful conversation and invited him to take part in the upcoming International Forum in Astana. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also left a memorable entry in the Book of Honorable Guests.
Let us note that on January 19, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with the Pope at the Vatican. The head of state, at the invitation of the Pope, made his first official visit to the Holy See.
