His Excellency Mr. Yerlan A. Baidaulet, the Director General of the Islamic Organization of Food Security (IOFS), is leading the Institution’s delegation attending the 48th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) being held in Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, until 23 March 2022 under theme “Building Partnerships for Unity, Justice, and Development”.
President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, H.E. Arif Alvi at the solemn reception welcomed distinguished delegates, IOFS Director General H.E. Mr. Yerlan A. Baidaulet noted the special significance of the event and congratulated the President with the 75th-anniversary celebrations of Pakistan's independence.
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The initial part of the first day was devoted to the Official Ceremony that was addressed by high level officials, including the Chairman of 47th CFM, H.E. Foreign Minister of Niger Mr. Hassoumi Massoutou who transferred the Chairmanship to the Pakistani Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Shah Mahmoud Quraishi who took the opportunity to follow-up the 17th Extraordinary CFM on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan, held at the same venue on 18-19 December 2021, to remind that “Afghanistan Food Security Programme” (AFSP) entrusted to IOFS was one of the may achievements of the aforesaid Session.
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Foreign Minister of the Kindom of Saudi Arabia His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Secretary-General OIC, H.E. Ambassador Hissein Brahim Taha, the President of the Islamic Development Bank, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Suleiman Al-Jasser, also addressed the Opening Ceremony that witnessed, for the first time, an address by a Chinese Foreign Minister, in this case H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, who mentioned, inter alia, that his attendance of the OIC solemn gathering aimed at developing a partnership with the Muslim world besides promoting unity and cooperation for multilateralism. Finally, H.E. Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, gave his keynote address to highlight his country’s role and contribution towards OIC and deliberated on the challenges faced by the Muslim world, particularly Islamophobia.
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It is important to note that the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, addressed the Session on behalf of the OIC Asian Group to convey the commitment to the OIC and its Institutions, particularly, the IOFS for which he urged the OIC Member States that were yet to join it to do so at the earliest so as to strengthen the Organization. The Kazakhstani Foreign Minister also called on Member States and relevant OIC Institutions to extend a supporting and generous hand to IOFS for the successful holding of its several programmes, specially the AFSP.
On the sidelines of the 48th CFM, the IOFS Director General held several bilateral meetings, including with the H.E. Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Foreign Secretary of the Republic of Maldives, H.E. Dr. Ashni Singh, Senior Minister Office of the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and H.E. Mr. Cherif Mahamat Zene, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Chadians Abroad of the Republic of Chad, with whom notes were exchanged of their respective countries to consider joining the IOFS membership and define agriculture and food security- related areas of common interest.
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The IOFS Director General also met with H.E. Mr. Manuel José Gonçalves, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Mozambique, for reviewing the already excellent existing relations, and to discuss on the potential visit of the IOFS delegation to Maputo next October to take stock of the MoU signed on 26 October 2021 with H.E. the Mozambican Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Olegário dos Anjos Banze, on the sidelines of the 8th Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development (MCFSAD), held in Istanbul, Turkey, as well as to implement an appropriate program/activity within the framework of celebrating 2022 as “IOFS Year of Africa”.
It should be mentioned that remaining officials being part of the IOFS delegation include Mr. Nursalim Suleimenov, Director of Cabinet, and Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Senior Liaison Officer, who will be following the proceedings of the meeting until 23 March 2022, the day when the Ministerial session will adopt more than 100 resolutions of the two-day deliberation session that coincides with the 75th anniversary celebrations of Pakistan’s independence. In fact, on same day, the Heads of Delegations to 48th CFM are to visit the Pakistan Day parade.