Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov met with the delegation led by Gu Dongyu, Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who participated in the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). At the meeting held at the pavilion of the Ministry of Agriculture of the COP29, the importance of the projects implemented in the framework of joint cooperation with FAO was emphasized, and the prospects of cooperation were discussed.

Welcoming the guests, Minister Majnun Mammadov touched on the importance of holding COP29 in Azerbaijan and talked about the measures implemented to minimize the impact of climate change on agriculture. It was reported that the government of Azerbaijan cooperates closely with international organizations to achieve the goals of sustainable development. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is one of the most important international partners of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with FAO in the field of agriculture and is interested in continuing this cooperation.

Director General of FAO, Gu Dongyu, for his part, said that he was satisfied with the establishment of high-level relations between Azerbaijan and the organization. He noted that it is extremely important to build more sustainable agro-food systems and expand global cooperation in these directions in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals against the background of global challenges. Events such as COP29 make an important contribution to determining priorities for the development of the agricultural sector. Gu Dongyu emphasized that the projects aimed at the sustainable development of the agricultural sector and the formation of an efficient and professional specialist base will continue to be supported.

The parties touched on the importance of continuing cooperation within the framework of the FAO-Azerbaijan Partnership Program, and discussed issues related to further increasing productivity in the agricultural sector, efficient use of land and water resources, digitization of agriculture, improvement of education, training and scientific research in the agricultural sector.

At the end, there was a broad exchange of views on topics of mutual interest.

At the end of the meeting, a Declaration of Intent was signed on the strengthening of cooperation regarding the "Baku Harmony Climate Initiative for Farmers" included in the "Sustainable Transformation for Food and Agriculture" (FAST) initiative within the framework of COP29.