On January 6, 2021, Dr. Ismail Abdelhamid, Director of Programs and Projects Office of IOFS meets Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of the Arab Republic of Egypt H.E. Al-Sayed El-Quseir and Dr. Saad Moussa, Supervisor of Foreign Agricultural Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Abdelhamid conveyed the greetings of H.E. Mr. Yerlan Baidaulet, Director-General of IOFS and appreciation for the active participation in the Third General Assembly held on December 2-3, 2020.
During the conversation, Dr. Abdelhamid briefly introduced the 16 programs of IOFS approved by the Third General Assembly, focusing on the Centers of Excellence for strategic commodities: wheat, rice, cassava and palm oil. These Centers would conduct and coordinate training and research programmes in the member states, which would, in return, enhance regional ties in their designated areas.
The Minister of Agriculture extended his greetings to Director-General of IOFS and commended the efforts IOFS makes to implement its programs. He stressed the importance of providing a complete vision of the operational activities of the Centers of Excellence that would ensure their sustainability. Dr. Ismail laid special emphasis on the value of feasibility studies that would be conducted shortly to cover these issues.
The conversation extended to cover the Food Security Reserve and the programs based on the OIC STI agenda, including the Transboundary Pest Control. The International Islamic Food Processing Association (IFPA) was demonstrated as a G2B platform that would pave the way for strengthening, promoting and enhancing trade ties within the IOFS/OIC Member Countries.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Al-Sayed El-Quseir expressed his support for the implementation of IOFS programs and stressed the need to establish coherent cooperation with other international organizations in areas of mutual interest.
