President Dr Irfaan Ali left for San Jose, Costa Rica on Tuesday morning to attend the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Conference. In Costa Rica, President Ali will receive IICA’s award for his leadership in food security and sustainable development and pay a courtesy call to the President of Costa Rica, Mr Rodrigo Chaves Robles.
President Ali is also expected to address the forum on global agriculture from the perspective of the Americas and Caribbean Region. In announcing the prestigious award this year, IICA said the decision to award President Ali is in recognition of his leadership in agricultural transformation, food security, and support for building resilient economies in a sustainable manner in Guyana and the Caribbean.
IICA had said in its announcement that the President’s support and commitment to public agendas related to issues such as regional integration, rural connectivity, social inclusion in the countryside and gender equality, all of which are central areas of IICA’s work, were also considered for the presentation of this award.
The Head-of-State is the institute’s first awardee in this category.
The institute provides cooperation services through close and permanent work with its 34 Member States, including countries in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
The President will be joined by First Lady, Mrs. Arya Ali; Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha and Advisor to CARICOM on Agri-Food System Dr Richard Blair.
