The final day of the visit to Bangladesh by His Excellency Prof. Yerlan Alimzhanuly Baidaulet , the Director General of the Islamic Organization of Food Security (IOFS), 22 August 2023, was marked with productive bilateral meetings with Honorable Ministers of Food, Mr. Sadhan Chandra Majumder and of Agriculture, Mr. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, held at their respective offices in Dhaka.
With the Honorable Minister of Food, the main agenda item was on participation of Bangladesh at the upcoming 6th IOFS General Assembly to be held on 02-03 October 2023 in Doha, State of #Qatar, as well as exploring further ways and means to strengthen the already existing excellent bilateral relations. The host ensured his unwavering support to IOFS and welcomed the idea of signing a general framework agreement to better identify modalities of cooperation with relevant Bangladeshi food related Agencies, including the Bangladesh National Nutrition Council (BNNC) and Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA).
With the Honorable Minister of Agriculture on the other hand, the IOFS Director General appreciated the important and generous hosting role of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) of the Training on Modern Rice production Technologies for IOFS Member States, held on 20-22 August 2023 at their headquarters in Gazipur, Bangladesh. The two dignitaries went further to agree on more streamlined cooperation that would materialize the already awaited memorandum of understanding with the BRRI, as well as the involvement into the IOFS new initiative Association of Agricultural Academies (AAA) of related Bangladesh agriculture academic entities, including the Bangladeshi Agricultural Research Center (BARC) and Agricultural University of Bangladesh.
Separately, the IOFS Director General exchanged views and appreciated high quality of the important work by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) when its Chairman, Md. Abdul Kayowm Sarker, welcomed him at their headquarters. The consultations were productive into the extent of the two sides agreeing that the BFSA would join the IOFS in its technical meeting with BNNC, expected to be held on 23 August 2023, to align relevant initiatives in the field of food safety.
It should be noted that during the bilateral meetings, the IOFS Director General was assisted by Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Advisor at Coordination & Cooperation Department.
