Second Session of the General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security held in Saudi Arabia

Second Session of the General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security held in Saudi Arabia

JIDDA, August 27-29, 2019 — The 2nd session of the General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) was held with the theme “Improving Islamic Cooperation through Food Security”. The Kazakhstan delegation was headed by the Minister of Agriculture, Saparkhan Omarov.

The issues of creating a database on the state of food security of the OIC member states and a regional food security reserve were considered in order to facilitate cooperation within the Organization. The participants also considered the elaboration of a 3-year action plan for the establishment of a grain fund and implementation of the IOFS investment program.

A representative of Kazakhstan, Yerlan Baidaulet, was selected as the new Director General of the Organization. Representatives of the ministries of Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Burkina Faso,  Gambia and Bangladesh  were elected members of the IOFS Executive Board.

In addition, Nigeria signed the IOFS Statute and became the 34th member of the Organization.

In the final document adopted by the IOFS General Assembly, the participants commended the role of the First President of Kazakhstan - Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev, in ensuring  food security of the Muslim world.

The members of the Organization also expressed deep gratitude to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Government and the people of Kazakhstan for supporting the activities and development of the IOFS.

The participants thanked the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, for making the decision to allocate $2 million for the institutional development of the IOFS, and noted that the 2nd session of the General Assembly, held in Jeddah, would give a serious impetus to the consolidation and development of the Organization.

The session supported the initiative of Minister Omarov on the establishment of an agrarian fund and an Islamic food processing association. In addition, the participants emphasized the relevance Kazakh initiatives in ensuring food security in Muslim countries, including the implementation of humanitarian grain and livestock projects in Muslim countries, the use of Islamic banking and financing mechanisms, international zakat, and the use of donation funds and modern advanced technology in these areas.

At the session, Minister Omarov held bilateral discussions with the heads of delegations of several countries. In particular, meetings were held with the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli, the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of Egypt, Abu Steit, the Minister of Food of Bangladesh, Sadhan Chandra Majumder, the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock of Afghanistan, Nasir Durani, as well as with the heads of the delegations of Turkey, Indonesia and the head of the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company Matthew Jansen. During the meetings, the parties exchanged views on the development of cooperation within the IOFS and the revitalization of the Organization, and discussed ways to expand bilateral investment, trade and economic relations, including in the field of agriculture.