Rome: Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Alaa Farouk, has participated in the opening of the 44th UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conference in Rome, Italy. The conference was inaugurated by Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the FAO, who lauded the participation of agriculture ministers from the organization's 194 member countries.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the FAO director-general highlighted the importance of the ministers' participation in making critical decisions to shape the organization's course of action in the coming period, especially in light of the current challenges facing the agriculture sector that requires international cooperation to support global food security systems.

The opening session, chaired by the Agriculture Minister of Senegal, included the election of the new president of the conference and his deputies, as well as the formation of the General Committee. Egypt was elected as a member of the General Committee of the Conference. This committee consists of only seven member states and is responsible for reviewing all decisions issued by the conference and submitting recommendations for approval at the closing sessions.

For his part, the Egyptian Minister of Agriculture emphasized the critical importance of this conference as a vital platform for discussing current global challenges related to food security, climate change, and the sustainable development of the agricultural sector. He noted the conference's critical timing this year, given current global challenges that demand unified international efforts to find innovative, sustainable solutions for ensuring sufficient and safe food for all.

The minister pointed out that Egypt prioritizes developing the agriculture sector and looks forward to actively participating in the conference through exchanging expertise and leading experiences in smart agriculture, water resource management, climate change adaptation, in addition to benefiting from the best global practices to enhance food security and reduce the food gap.