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The Minister for National Food Security and Research,
Mr. Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan visited Astana, Kazakhstan
from 27-28 April, 2016 to attend the 7th OIC Ministerial
Conference on Food Security and Agricultural
Development. In his statement, the Minister underlined
the fundamental role of agriculture for improvement of
food security among OIC member states. He noted that in
recent times agriculture in the developing countries is
going through a difficult period particularly due to the
drop in prices of agricultural commodities, climate
change, insufficient investment in agriculture research,
and low crop yields, and highlighted the several
measures taken by the Government of Pakistan to provide
relief to the farmers and ensure food security. The
Minister also conveyed the, in principle, approval of
the Government of Pakistan for joining the newly
established Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS),
and informed that Pakistan would soon complete the
necessary formalities for signing its statutes. The
Conference welcomed the establishment of IOFS, a new
specialized institution of the OIC, to serve as an
executing agency for implementing OIC resolutions and
programmes in the domain of agriculture, rural
development and food security and urged all member
states to allocate more resources from their national
budgets to agricultural development and food security
programmes.
The OIC Ministerial was preceded by 1st Session of the
General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food
Security (IOFS) inaugurated by the Prime Minister of
Kazakhstan. Pakistan attended this meeting as an
observer. The IOFS General Assembly discussed and
approved a host of administrative and financial matters
including nominations for membership of the Executive
Board, nomination for the post of Director General,
budget, Rules of Procedures, Financial Rules and
Personnel Regulations as well as Plan of Action of the
IOFS for 5 years.
On the sidelines of the Conference, the Minister for
National Food Security and Research held important
bilateral meetings with Minister of Agriculture of
Kazakhstan Mr. Assylzhan Mamytbekov. Secretary General
OIC Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, President Islamic Development
Bank Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali, and Minister of
Municipalities and Environment, Qatar Mohammad Abdullah
Arrumaihi. The discussions were focused on enhancing
bilateral cooperation in the agriculture sector.
Considering the importance of agriculture sector for
promoting food security, both the Pakistan and the
Kazakh Ministers agreed to enhance agricultural
cooperation between the two countries through mutual
exchange of experts in the field of agriculture.
The Conference provided an excellent opportunity for
continued dialogue and increased cooperation between the
OIC member countries towards promoting the sustainable
agricultural development and eradication of hunger and
undernourishment. |
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