Food Minister of Bangladesh led a high-level delegation at the 8th OIC Ministerial Conference

Food Minister of Bangladesh led a high-level delegation at the 8^th OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development

Istanbul (Turkey), October 27 2021 :

‘Food Security has already been ensured for all and Bangladesh has emerged as a development model of Agriculture to the world’, emphasized Food Minister of Bangladesh Sadhan Chandra Majumder at the 8^th OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development held on 27 October in Istanbul, Turkey.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli chaired the conference. From Bangladesh side, Food Secretary Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum, Consul General Dr. Mohammad Monirul Islam and officials from Ministry of Food, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs also attended the conference.

In his statement, Bangladesh Minister underlined the importance of sharing expertise and experiences among the OIC member states for ensuring food security for all, referring to the extraordinary challenges caused by ongoing pandemic. He elaborated the success and achievements made by Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina particularly in food and agriculture sectors.

The Ministerial conference was preceded by a two-day senior official meeting on 25-26 October 2021 where the Food Secretary Khanum represented Bangladesh. She also attended as a panellist in a side-line event titled ‘Sharing Experiences and Knowledge for Improvement of Food Systems in OIC region’ and highlighted the success stories of Bangladesh in ensuring food and nutrition security. She further stressed the necessity in sharing best practices and transferring technologies among member states.

On the side-line of the conference, Bangladesh Minister had a bilateral interaction with the Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. During the interaction, both Ministers underscored the need for inclusion of food and agricultural items in each other trade basket for mutual benefit. Bangladesh Minister urged the Turkish side to explore the possibilities of investing in food processing, agricultural machineries and infrastructures.

The Turkish Minister deeply appreciated the remarkable socio-economic developments Bangladesh scripted under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.