Dhaka, Bangladesh (CU)_ During the 36th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Asia-Pacific regional conference (APRC), Bangladesh insisted on more collaboration among Asia-Pacific nations to achieve food security. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the appeal in her proposals at the opening session of the conference’s cabinet meeting.
During her speech at the conference, the Bangladeshi prime minister spoke about food security and the collaborative efforts to tackle the major challenge. She said, “Food security is surely the most pressing issue for humanity. About 305.7 million people in South Asia still suffer from hunger. We can arrange food for them easily if we all make sincere efforts”.
Bangladesh’s prime minister emphasized the importance of transferring and exchanging agricultural-related innovations as well as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and robotics in order to strengthen regional cooperation among FAO countries. Hasina is currently on a five-day official tour to the United Arab Emirates. During her visit, she said, “As modern agriculture needs huge investment, a special fund could be created to finance and support the agri-sector”.
The PM formally opened the event, which was organized at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC), popularly known as the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center. The virtual hybrid conference united 46 Asia-Pacific FAO members and a diverse range of officials, including representatives from UN agencies, to discuss the current priorities of countries and regions, as well as most critical regional issues such as the impact of COVID-19, the status of agriculture, natural resource management, food security, and nutrition.
According to FAO officials, government ministers from over 40 countries in Asia and the Pacific are expected to convene in-person and virtual meetings to reach consensus on how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact posed on the lives and livelihoods of communities working in the food and agriculture sectors in the most populous region of the world. The first day of the conference featured a variety of sessions in which top officials, agricultural secretaries, and specialists discussed regional and global policy and regulatory issues.
