President Luis Abinader called for Ibero-American countries to explore opportunities for collaboration in favor of agriculture and food production to achieve reasonable food prices for the population. He spoke at the 9th Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Agriculture taking place in Santo Domingo. The ministers are looking to come up with actions to mitigate the impact the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Europe has on food prices.
President Luis Abinader called on the countries of Ibero-America that share the same vision and commitment to the development and well-being of their peoples to join forces.
The President warned that it has never been more necessary than now to unite to face the challenges of the food supply chain, making available food and inputs at reasonable prices, and at the same time, guaranteeing the profitability of the producer. He proposed the creation of a permanent consultation mechanism that would allow countries to identify the presence of technical barriers that hinder trade in agricultural goods between countries.
In addition, he proposed work to coordinate the exchange of agricultural technologies and, when possible, to carry out joint plans to generate agricultural research and implement scholarship programs to train agricultural specialists and exchange knowledge.
Abinader highlighted that Ibero-America, with its more than 20.5 million square kilometers of territory, has the best agricultural land on the planet. He mentioned the region has the most sources of water and a diversity of climates that make it a privileged region in terms of agriculture and food production, not only for its population of almost 700 million inhabitants, but also to cover part of the global demand.
President Abinader was accompanied by his Agriculture Minister Limber Cruz, and the Ibero-American Secretary General, Andrés Allamand, for the inaugural session of the conference held at the El Embajador Hotel in Santo Domingo.
During the two-day event, officials are analyzing the main challenges and opportunities for this sector to achieve sustainable development in the 22-member countries of the Ibero-American Conference.
The assembly addresses the issues of food security and nutrition, sustainable production, resilience and agroecology, the challenge of international trade in the agri-food sector in the face of the crisis in supply chains, the digital transformation of the agri-food system and family farming.
The meeting is part of the calendar of activities that the Dominican Republic is developing within the framework of the Pro Tempore Secretariat that it holds in this international organization.
The results will then be presented at the 28th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in the Dominican Republic in 24-25 March 2023 in Santo Domingo.
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Presidency
28 April 2022