On December 3, 2020, The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Mr. Ruslan A. Kazakbayev met with the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Adnan Qureshi.

During the meeting, an exchange of views took place on a wide range of issues of cooperation between the Kyrgyz Republic and FAO. Thus, the FAO Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic emphasized that FAO is the leading UN agency on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, as well as food security, and the Organization is ready to provide all-round assistance to Kyrgyzstan within its mandate. It was noted that the priority areas of FAO's activities in the Kyrgyz Republic are trade facilitation, development of the agro-industrial complex and digitalization in agriculture.

Mr. Adnan Qureshi informed that currently the Organization's portfolio in Kyrgyzstan includes 28 regional and sub-regional, as well as 11 national projects in the field of aquaculture and fisheries, forest management, poultry farming, organic agriculture, locust control, etc. FAO expressed its readiness to expand the project portfolio and increase investment in the Kyrgyz Republic as soon as the parties manage to resolve the issue of legal justification for FAO's presence in Kyrgyzstan. Particular attention was paid to the results of the implementation of the FAO project "Sustainable Development of Aquaculture and Fisheries in the Kyrgyz Republic", which made a significant contribution to the restoration of the country's fisheries sector.

H.E. Mr. Ruslan A. Kazakbayev suggested that FAO consider the possibility of strengthening the emphasis of its work on improving the certification system for agricultural products and strengthening the relevant material and technical base. H.E. Mr. Ruslan A. Kazakbayev expressed a request to pay attention to the promising areas of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Kyrgyz Republic. In particular, to consider the issue of supporting the development of yak breeding in the Naryn region, as well as in promoting an increase in the production of apricot in the Osh and Batken regions and adding it to the international register of geographical indicators as a product from Kyrgyzstan.

Separately, the issue of launching a joint project with the Green Climate Fund of FAO "Carbon sequestration through investments in forests and pastures in the Kyrgyz Republic" with a total budget of US $ 50 million was discussed. The project will focus on climate change mitigation through sustainable management of natural resources based on existing ecosystems in accordance with the needs of local communities. The parties assured each other that they would make every effort to launch the project as soon as possible.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister thanked FAO for the support provided to the Kyrgyz Republic and expressed readiness for further dialogue and intensification of interaction with the Organization, including through the development of a joint action plan between FAO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic.