President Cortizo received FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, who assured that the country can become the new distribution center for food, technology, and medicines for the world, especially in Asia.
At the meeting, it was agreed that Panama will prepare a proposal to establish an agri-food hub in the country, a plan that will be presented in Rome, Italy in October 2022.
Within the framework of the thirty-seventh Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Director General Qu Dongyu visited Panama, and held an important meeting with President Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, this Saturday morning in which it was agreed to promote joint actions that allow advancing and strengthening the country's agri-food system, in the midst of current conflicts and global challenges.
The Chief Executive said that after an important work meeting, it was agreed to develop between the FAO team and the National Government, a proposal to establish an agri-food hub in Panama to distribute food to Asia.
“What we need is to have a well thought out document; We must take the first steps forward because this is a very good idea to strengthen the Panamanian productive sector and boost job creation,” said Cortizo Cohen.
The president added that the proposal will be presented in Rome, next October in the framework of the FAO Agriculture Week, a meeting in which investors from Asia will participate.
The Chief Executive thanked the FAO delegation for the visit and said that for him "this meeting is very important because the world is facing many challenges, I hate to say it, but it is like the perfect storm, we have to be cautious because things are They are complicating the food supply.”
He also noted that Panama is a beacon of democracy and a defender of human rights.
The agenda of the meeting that took place in the Presidency of the Republic focused on topics such as: the problem of food inflation due to the increase in the price of food as a result of the pandemic; and the effects on this same topic of current events in relation to the conflict in Eastern Europe.
For his part, Qu Dongyu, said that Panama has a privileged geographical position and can become the new food, technology and medicine distribution center for the world, especially for Asia.
Both authorities also agreed to join efforts to create an infrastructure that streamlines food distribution logistics in the Latin American and Caribbean region, benefiting from the strategic position of Panama and the Interoceanic Canal.
The Director General of FAO took the opportunity to recognize and congratulate the National Government for "Panama Solidario", an emblematic program at the global level, which assisted the population affected by the pandemic in a time of need, through the transfer of money and food.
Qu Dongyu reiterated his statement about the importance of working to find new and more diverse food suppliers; applauding the efforts of the Government of Panama, through the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA), to promote the internal production of some products of the Panamanian basic basket, qualifying this measure as one of the most effective responses to the current reality.
This space for discussion also made it possible to verify the important progress made by the country in relation to the strengthening of the national regulatory framework for family farming and the facilitation of access for these families to new technologies for production, through the sustainable use of natural resources.
Similarly, the implementation of social protection programs of the National Government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic was highlighted, such as: the Panama Solidario and Study Without Hunger programs, which favor the acquisition of locally produced food and the linking of family farming to school feeding.
Finally, the head of the FAO urged the Government of Panama to continue the path towards a consolidated, interministerial and intersectoral strategy, which guarantees food security conditions for the entire population.
President Cortizo Cohen was accompanied by ministers Augusto Valderrama, of Agricultural Development; Ivette Berrío, Health Manager; María Inés Castillo, from Social Development; Milciades Concepción, from Environment; Ramón Martínez, of Commerce and Industries and the Vice Ministers Juan Carlos Sosa, of Commerce and Industries and Ana Luisa Castro, of Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting was also attended by Ambassador Tomás Duncan, Permanent Representative of Panama to FAO; the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Panama, Cristian Munduate; and a high-level delegation from the FAO that included the deputy director general, Julio Berdegué; the Subregional Coordinator for Mesoamerica and Representative in Panama, Adoniram Sanches, and the Chief Economist and Deputy Director General of the FAO Department of Economic and Social Development, Máximo Torero.