The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr QU Dongyu, arrived on Sunday in Sri Lanka for a three-day visit to participate in the 37th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC37). 

The event, hosted by Sri Lanka from 19 – 22 February, will see the participation of Government Ministers and Heads of Delegations from as many as 46 Member Nations gathering in Colombo.

The Director-General was received at the airport by Janaka Dharmakeerthi, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture in Sri Lanka, Jong-Jin Kim, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, and Vimlendra Sharan, the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka. 

During his stay, the Director-General will also visit agricultural sites, and is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral discussions with Sri Lankan leadership and Ministers from other Asia-Pacific countries. 

The APRC37, convened by FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka, marks a major international, multilateral milestone in an effort to reform agrifood systems across the Asia-Pacific region. 

President Wickremesinghe and the Director-General are expected to inaugurate the Ministerial session of the conference on Tuesday, 20 February, with delegates from across the Asia-Pacific region participating. 

The objective is to outline a pathway toward a full recovery from the pandemic and other converging crises, and reinforce ways to rebuild and transform the region’s agrifood systems, delivered through better production, better nutrition, a better environment and leading to a better life for all – leaving no one behind.