Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Mateja Čalušić hosted FAO Director-General QU Dongyu in Slovenia yesterday and today. In the discussion and during the field visits, the Minister presented to the high-level guest various areas of cooperation with FAO, the characteristics and best practices in agriculture and the local environment, the cooperation with stakeholders in rural areas, the integration of women in rural areas, young famers, and research.

On the last day of the visit, the Minister and FAO Director-General first visited the InnoRenew independent research institute in Izola. The institute conducts research in the fields of renewable materials and sustainable buildings and promotes the use of scientific findings in industrial practices. Sustainability is vital also across the food sector. The Dean of the Biotechnical Faculty Marina Pintar and Director of the Slovenian Forestry Institute Nike Krajnc participated in the meeting, expressing the interest of their institutions to participate with FAO.

The last destination was Bordon family farm, which is actively engaged in wine-growing, olive-growing, organic farming and complementary farming activities. In recent years, they have introduced modern technologies in their vineyards. 

FAO Director-General visited Slovenia at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar. The three-day visit was an opportunity to highlight important topics such as food security in light of the Slovenian membership in the UN Security Council, modern technologies as the future of agriculture, the importance of smart villages, the celebration of World Bee Day together with FAO, and the cooperation of scientific institutions with FAO. In the second half of 2024, Slovenia will chair the European Regional Group in FAO, while it acts as Slovakia's deputy chair during the first half of 2024. The European Regional Group consists of 47 countries.

As part of the yesterday's programme organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Minister Čalušić and Director-General QU Dongyu visited two farms in the vicinity of Ljubljana and the Municipality of Dol pri Ljubljani. Further information on yesterday's visit is available in the press release.