Intervention
By H.E. Mr. Mohammed Yahya Maroofi,
Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
At the outset, I would express my sincere thanks to the host authorities for inviting ECO to this important (8th Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture Fisheries and Food CIHEAM’s Member Countries). I would also extend my profound thanks to the Ministry, especially to His Excellency Mr. Mehmet Mehdi Eker, Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) for making excellent arrangements and extending traditional Turkish hospitality to the delegates. We have seen the
film clipps depicting Turkey as the cradle of civilization. We hope that our region becomes the cradle of food safety and sustainable development.
Mr. Chairman,
The universal recognition of the importance of our today’s deliberation is beyond doubt. We are here to share efforts for the common good of our people and those of the region and its natural extension of Mediterranean Basin. Having said this allow me Excellency to share with this August assembly the activities of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
ECO region comprises 10 countries with an area of 8 million square kilometers and a population of nearly 400 million. The region enjoys diversity in variety of soil, environmental and climatic conditions and has a wide range of agro-ecological zones, suitable for crop and livestock diversification.
The ECO Regional Programme for Food Security (RPFS) prepared with the technical assistance of FAO constitutes its centerpiece of our cooperation in the field of Agriculture. Turkey has been elected as the ECO coordinator country for this Regional Programme. We sincerely thank them for this initiative. The RPFS comprises 9 regional components and one specific programme on Community Based Food Production in Afghanistan. We have two components directly related to climate change i.e. (i) Drought Management and (ii) Efficient utilization of water in agriculture.
ECO has established its Regional Center for Risk Management of Natural Disasters (ECO-RCRM) mainly for meteorological aspect of drought and its management on 4 September, 2007, in Mashhad, Iran.
The 4th Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture approved the establishment of the ECO Center for Efficient Utilization of Water in Islamabad. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has already agreed to extend the financial assistance for national project of Pakistan on the issue as well as for Working Group Meeting for Establishment of the Center.
We are ready for cooperation with CIHEAM Members in these areas and in any other area in the agriculture sector.
In the end, I wish the participants of this meeting every success in their deliberations. I am confident that the decisions made during the meeting would be instrumental in promoting cooperation in the field of Agriculture among the participating countries.
Thank you,
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