02 May 2024, Santiago: FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with H.E. Esteban Valenzuela, Minister of Agriculture of Chile, in Santiago to discuss ways to further strengthen the collaboration between FAO and Chile.
The Minister appreciated FAO’s decision to join hands with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to co-host the UN Chief Executive Board (CEB), which brought together UN principals from across the globe to Santiago.
The Minister thanked FAO for its steadfast support to the country in fostering its agrifood systems transformation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period when the food supply chain in Chile faced huge challenges. The Minister also reaffirmed the country’s firm commitment to leveraging ICT to turbo-charge food production and marketing and requested FAO to scale up its efforts in this regard to accelerate the process, including through sharing know-how related to fintech that will facilitate the transaction of foodstuffs from Chile.
The Director-General recapped the ongoing fruitful relations with Chile and expressed satisfaction with the Chilean contributions and support to FAO flagship initiatives such as the Hand-in-Hand Initiative (HiHi) and the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) Initiative, among others, and stressed that these and other FAO platforms would facilitate Chile’s promotion of its world-class agrifood products such as cherries, honey, and abalones. He further invited Chile to participate in the event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the foundation of FAO in 2025.
