Kathmandu: The Tenth Meeting of the SAARC Chief Veterinary Officers’ (CVOs) Forum began in Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 18. The meeting is a two-day event which was jointly organized by the Agriculture and Rural Development Division of the SAARC Secretariat, the Department of Animal Production and Health, Sri Lanka, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations bringing together the Chief Veterinary Officers (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) from the SAARC Member States and Development Partners. The meeting aimed to strengthen regional coordination and cooperation on veterinary services for sustainable livestock productivity, food security and rural livelihoods in South Asia.
During the inaugural session of the Meeting, the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land & Irrigation of Sri Lanka, D.P. Wickramasinghe, welcomed the CVOs and delegations from the development partners and assured support of Sri Lanka to host these kinds of events and support the SAARC process. He emphasized that safeguarding animal health is key to ensuring food safety, supporting rural economies and enhancing regional trade.
H.E. Golam Sarwar, the Secretary General of SAARC, in his remarks, thanked all for holding this meeting and welcomed the CVOs and Delegations. He also thanked the Sri Lankan Government for hosting this technical meeting consecutively for two years and WOAH and FAO for their continuous support. Given the importance of livestock development for this region, he requested the delegations from the development partners to extend further cooperation technically, logistically and financially in every initiative of SAARC.
In his short speech, Dr S Piyasiri, the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture of Sri Lanka, mentioned their recent achievements in the field of Animal health and also mentioned the country’s commitment for future development.
In his opening remarks, DG DAPH, Sri Lanka and the chair of the meeting thanked the respected CVOs from Member States, delegations from SAARC, WOAH and FAO.
Dr. Tomoko Ishibashi, WOAH Regional Representative for Asia and Pacific conveyed her appreciation to the SAARC Secretariat, SAC and the Government of Sri Lanka for organizing and hosting the meeting.
As the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dr. Scott Newman started his remarks thanking the SAARC Secretariat and DAPH, Sri Lanka as the organizers and host. He emphasized CVOs Forum as the technical platform of SAARC region and mentioned it as the most development initiative of SAARC for animal health.
In his remarks, Dr. Harunur Rashid, Director, SAC thanked Sri Lanka for hosting the Meeting and welcomed the respected CVOs and the delegations. He stated the thematic working areas of SAC as the commitment of the member states of SAARC. A vote of thanks by Dr. S. Kurugala, the chairman of organizing committee, DAPH, Sri Lanka.
The meeting started with the strong appeal and urge for collaboration for the animal welfare of the SAARC region.
