Sisi: Egypt Keen on Developing Ties with FAO

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said Egypt is interested in developing relations with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in all fields through which agricultural development could be achieved.

Sisi was speaking on Sunday during his meeting with FAO Director Qu Dongyu on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly meetings in New York, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said.

President Sisi hailed close cooperation ties between Egypt and FAO in the fields of food safety, food security, and agricultural development especially in light of that Egypt gives a priority to boosting the agricultural sector as one of the main elements to achieve the economic growth.

Dongyu, on his part, said FAO panels and its regional office in Cairo follow up the great activity, currently witnessed in Egypt in the domains of agriculture, food, and rural development, and the mega national projects in the fields of livestock production, fish farming, greenhouses, and 1.5 million feddans project.

In this regard, Sisi pointed out that these ventures come within a framework of the comprehensive plan, executed by Egypt to sustainably develop the agricultural sector, achieve high levels of self-sufficiency, close the food gap, and create more jobs for youth.

During the meeting, FAO director briefed the president on the projects, being established in the current period, stressing the full commitment to supporting the new Egyptian projects.

The meeting touched on issues of mutual interest, ways of enhancing development cooperation among Egypt, the African states and the organization, and ways of coordination to support programs aiming to improve the food security situation in Africa.