During a working trip to the United Arab Emirates, H. E. Yerlan Baidaulet, the Director-General of IOFS held a number of meetings under the programme implementation, including with the headship of AbuDhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and investment companies in agriculture. He also met the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Arab Emirates H .E. Madiyar Menilbekov, with whom the Director-General discussed cooperation with the Embassy, the government bodies and the corporate sector of the UAE.
On May 27, 2021, he paid a working visit to the ICBA headquarters in Dubai, where he signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Modus Operandi. The documents outline the proposed areas of collaboration between the two organizations for 2021-2022. During this period, ICBA and IOFS will focus on the activities of the Centers of Excellence and the Forum for Water Management in Agriculture. Following the signing ceremony, H. E. Dr Tarifa Alzaabi, Acting Director-General of ICBA conducted a brief tour around the facilities of the research centre and shared some of its project developments.
IOFS and ICBA share similar development goals and a statutory vision of a sustainable food secure world. The cooperation between these two organizations will maximize and employ the scientific potential of the OIC countries to the fullest.
For reference: ICBA is an international agricultural research centre that focuses on improving the livelihoods of those who live in marginal environments. ICBA has been a long-standing partner of IOFS and held high-level observer status at the Second General Assembly in Jeddah in 2019.
