The second meeting of agricultural ministers of D-8 Countries was inaugurated in Tehran on Monday, May 16, 2011.

The leaders of D8 in their Kuala Lumpur Summit Declaration (2008), placed high priority on multilateral cooperation in attainment of food security, inter alia, through production and supply of fertilizers, animal feed; and the creation of seed banks to supply quality seeds. The first D-8 Ministers of Agriculture on Food Security (Kuala Lumpur, 25th –27th February 2009 reaffirm their commitment to enhance collaborative efforts in these areas

Agriculture ministers of Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are participating in the three-day meeting.

In addressing the current situation of soaring food and agricultural input prices, the government of Iran had offered D8 member countries to host the 2nd agricultural ministerial meeting on food security, few months ago. The meeting is scheduled to be continued by May 18.

D8 Secretary General, Widi Pratikto said in the inauguration ceremony of the meeting that the spirit of D8 is economic cooperation in agriculture sector. “We hope by holding the meeting, we can improve welfare and food safety for people of all countries especially D8 members”, he added.

The meeting, which focused on boosting private sector participation in the agricultural partnership and was concluded on Tuesday evening, also appointed Indonesia as the host for the next ministerial meeting in 2012.

“The D-8 country members agreed at the [Tehran] meeting to commit more to increasing the role of the private sector in the next meeting, so that this organization can take more real actions in realizing the results of its meetings with partnerships with the business world,” Indonesian ministry source said in a press statement sent to media on Wednesday.

Photos of the meetings can be viewed by clicking here.

Photosource: IRNA