Bilateral meeting with Senator The Honourable Ravi Ratiram, Minister for Agriculture, Land and Fisheries of Trinidad and Tobago

Rome - The FAO Director-General met today at FAO headquarters in Rome with Senator The Honourable Ravi Ratiram, Minister for Agriculture, Land and Fisheries of Trinidad and Tobago, on the sidelines of the 44th Session of the FAO Ministerial Conference.

The Director-General welcomed the Minister, commended the longstanding partnership with Trinidad and Tobago, and expressed that FAO looked forward to further strengthening its collaboration in alignment with the country’s priorities. Furthermore, the Director-General recognized Trinidad and Tobago’s commitment to improving food security amidst challenges faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The Minister thanked the Director-General and expressed appreciation for FAO’s continued support. Likewise, the Minister stated Trinidad and Tobago’s intention to continuously deepen its partnership with FAO, particularly in the areas of increasing both agricultural exports and the share of agriculture as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while reducing the food import bill. The Minister also emphasized the importance of FAO’s partnership in preventing and controlling the spread of pests and diseases affecting agrifood systems.

In more detail, the Director-General and the Minister discussed Trinidad and Tobago’s initiatives to increase production of cocoa and other agricultural products and improve their value chains comprehensively, thus ensuring food security.

Both parties agreed to explore efficient options for scaling up their joint efforts toward Trinidad and Tobago’s agricultural development, in line with the government’s priorities and FAO’s Strategic Framework.