Bilateral meeting with H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with H.E. Murat Nurtleu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs

Astana - FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, met during the Director-General’s three-day visit in Kazakhstan, to discuss ways to strengthen collaboration between FAO and Kazakhstan. H.E. Murat Nurtleu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, was also present at the meeting.

The President welcomed the Director-General on his first official visit to Kazakhstan, noting the visit was symbolic as it coincided with FAO’s 80th anniversary celebration in 2025.  The President appreciated FAO’s important role in Kazakhstan in support of agrifood system transformation, emphasized that agriculture development was a priority in the country, and looked forward to Kazakhstan continuing to be a reliable partner on food security issues at national, regional and global levels.

The Director-General thanked the President for Kazakhstan’s continued commitment to FAO, and agreed that it was an important moment for solidarity and unity considering the current global challenges, and reaffirmed that FAO stands ready to continue providing strong support to all 194 Members.

The Director-General further noted that the current FAO-Kazakhstan Partnership covered several important areas of work, such as crop breeding and seed production, and land degradation among others, and looked forward to the new FAO-Kazakhstan Partnership Programme on water resources management that was being initiated. The Director-General suggested that the partnership programme could also cover other Central Asian countries, considering Kazakhstan's dependency on transboundary rivers in the region.

The President assured the Director-General that he would continue to support the work of the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure a smooth cooperation with FAO. The President further informed the Director-General of the UNGA resolution to establish a UN SDG hub in Almaty to serve Central Asia and Afghanistan.

Finally, the Director-General conveyed appreciation for the creation of a Kazakhstan Room in FAO headquarters and looked forward to the completion of works in time for FAO 80’s anniversary celebration on 16 October during the week of the annual World Food Forum.

Both discussed the need to design strategic collaboration for the next 20 years to make Kazakhstan more prosperous, and well placed to serve as a food basket for the world, supported by an effective transformation of its agrifood system, rural development and achievement of the Four Betters.