A virtual roundtable meeting of the agriculture ministers of the East Asia and Pacific region nations was hosted on April 23 by the World Bank. The meeting – attended by representatives of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), ASEAN General Secretariat and a number of other national and international organizations – was on the 2030 Food System under the theme "Building Back Better" in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mongolian Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Z.Mendsaikhan took part in the meeting and made a presentation about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s food safety and nutrition as well as the policies and reforms taken by the government to overcome the longstanding challenges and strengthening the agriculture-food system.

During the meeting, Minister Mendsaikhan informed that Mongolia is implementing the ‘Livestock Commercialization Project’ with loan financing from the World Bank aimed at improving the health and productivity of livestock and increasing the value of products such as meat and dairy by commercializing targeted value chains in selected locations.

He further noted his proposal on implementing a comprehensive project ‘Green and Competitive Agriculture’ project with MNT 100 million of investment cost. The project is designed for ensuring the adaptation of agriculture and livestock farming to climate change, implementing sustainable development principles and habits to reduce greenhouse gases, and supporting green and responsible agriculture and livestock industries. Agricultural clusters that are adaptable to climate change, green and competitive will also be created with the help of the development of value-added chains, while contributing to the agricultural exchange reform and development of digital agricultural and strengthening of the market infrastructure.

The attracted agriculture ministers of Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and East Timor, and the attendees discussed issues and explore priority options and actions to ensure the sustainability of food and nutrition security in the region.