14 January 2025: The new Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific of the World Food Programme (WFP), Mr. Samir Sudhir Wanmail, paid a courtesy call on the Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Livestock on 14th January 2025. During the meeting, His Excellency congratulated Mr. Wanmail on his recent appointment and warmly welcomed him to Bhutan, specifically to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
His Excellency expressed his appreciation for the technical and direct support WFP has provided to Bhutan, as well as to countries worldwide, highlighting the organization’s invaluable role in promoting food and nutrition security. The Hon’ble Minister also underscored the Ministry’s forward-looking approach and reiterated the importance of continued cooperation with WFP to achieve shared objectives, including strengthening food security, protecting smallholder farmers from climate shocks, improving market access both domestically and internationally, and fostering innovation, technology, and data analytics in the agricultural sector to meet the ambitious targets of the 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP).
In his remarks, Mr. Wanmail reaffirmed WFP’s commitment to supporting the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, particularly in enhancing food security, building resilient agricultural systems, and developing innovative solutions to address climate-related challenges. He further emphasized that the WFP regional office in Bangkok, under his leadership, would prioritize Bhutan and offer technical assistance and other support to strengthen collaboration moving forward.
-PPD,MoAL
