FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, arrived on Sunday in Sri Lanka for a three-day visit to participate in the 37^th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific. Government Ministers and Heads of Delegations from as many as 46 Member Nations are gathering in Colombo for the event. Sri Lanka is hosting the APRC37.

The Director-General was received at the airport by Janaka Dharmakeerthi, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture in Sri Lanka, Jong-Jin Kim, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, and Vimlendra Sharan, the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka.

During his stay, the Director-General will also visit agricultural sites, and is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral discussions with Sri Lankan leadership and Ministers from other Asia-Pacific countries.

The #APRC37, convened by FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka, marks a major international, multilateral milestone in an effort to reform agrifood systems across the Asia-Pacific region. The Conference runs from 19 – 22 February in Colombo.

President Wickremesinghe and the Director-General are expected to inaugurate the Ministerial session of the conference on Tuesday, 20 February with delegates from across the Asia-Pacific region participating. The objective is to outline a pathway toward a full recovery from the pandemic and other converging crises, and reinforce ways to rebuild and transform the region’s agrifood systems, delivered through better production, better nutrition, a better environment and leading to a better life for all – leaving no one behind.

IMAGE CAPTION: FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu was received at the airport by Janaka Dharmakeerthi, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture in Sri Lanka, Jong-Jin Kim, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, and Vimlendra Sharan, the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka. ©FAO/Sujeewa de Silva.