On 19 September, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming met with Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) QU Dongyu on the sidelines of High-Level Week at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly and the extraordinary meeting of the SCO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in New York. The two sides exchanged views on how the two organisations can interact, ensure regional food security, and promote cooperation in agriculture, etc.
Zhang Ming stressed that agriculture and food security are among the key issues on the SCO agenda. He reaffirmed the SCO”s intention to maintain close contact and dialogue, deepen and give practical content to cooperation with the FAO based on the Memorandum of Understanding and other documents.
QU Dongyu, in turn, noted that the interests of the two organisations coincide in establishing cooperation, which opens many prospects for development. He expressed the FAO's willingness to deepen cooperation with the countries of the region, taking into account their needs, and to consistently increase support and advisory services in the agricultural sciences and technology, agricultural trade and other areas.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed issues related to the implementation of existing agreements and the possibility of signing new documents on cooperation between the SCO Secretariat and the FAO.a