The conference brings together 46 Asia-Pacific FAO member states and a wide range of observers such as representatives of United Nations bodies to discuss current country and regional priorities and pressing issues in the region such as the impact of COVID-19, the state of agriculture, natural resources management, food security and nutrition.

FAO officials said government ministers from 42 countries in Asia and the Pacific are expected to join in-person and virtual interactions to reach consensus inter-alia on the way forward, following the damage dealt by the global pandemic to lives and livelihoods of those involved in the food and agriculture sectors in the world's most populous region.

They said it will also pave the way to highlight examples of partnerships, innovation and digital technologies that are helping to improve food security and nutrition across the region as well as regional and global policy and regulatory matters.

On the first day of the conference on Tuesday, senior officials, agriculture secretaries and other high-ups participated in different sessions and discussed regional and global policy and regulatory matters.

"FAO 36th session of APRC is a unique opportunity for FAO to work together with its partners including the governments to promote one health and post COVID-19 recovery in relation to the transformation of sustainable, nutrition-sensitive and resilient food and agriculture system," said Aziz Elbehri, senior economist of FAO.

Bangladeshi Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will officially inaugurate the event at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC), which is also known as Bangladesh-China friendship conference center in Dhaka, on March 10 although the conference opened Tuesday.

The ministerial meetings will be held on March 10 and 11.

On the sidelines of the ministerial meetings, he said stalls will be set up for countries showcasing at the BICC.

"The government of Bangladesh has been so enthusiastic to support Food and Agriculture Organization's 36th session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in Dhaka," Robert D Simpson, the FAO representative in Bangladesh, told journalists on Monday while meeting the press virtually ahead of the conference.

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Xinhua