Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay elected as Chair of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) for 2023-2025

San Jose, 4 October 2023 (IICA) - The Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay, Fernando Mattos, was elected as Chair of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) for 2023-2025 during the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2023, in San Jose, Costa Rica.
 
The IABA is the highest governing body of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IABA) and the vote by the ministers and heads of delegation of the 32 countries in attendance was unanimous.
 
The nomination of Mattos as the new Chair of the IABA by the Argentine delegation received the overwhelming support of the countries.
 
Uruguay will take over from the previous Chair, Brazil, which exercised this role over the last two years. The Brazilian government was represented at the meeting by the sector’s highest authority, Paulo Teixeira, the Minister of Agricultural Development and Family Farming.
 
“I would like to express sincere thanks to all the countries and to congratulate my colleague from Brazil who has presided over the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) during an extremely difficult period in which the agriculture sector—like many times in the past—has had to overcome successive crises due to a convergence of complex circumstances
 
The Uruguayan minister also thanked the Argentine delegation for nominating him as head of the IABA – a body that includes all the ministers of Agriculture of the Americas.
 
Mattos reflected that, “For Uruguay, an agricultural country, for which agricultural production has been one of the primary sources of development and growth since its inception, it is a tremendous honor to preside over the IABA for a second time. Some years ago, we had the opportunity to play this role when the Conference was held in Montevideo in 1985. This was also a red-letter year for Uruguay, as we marked our return to democratic rule. As a result, IICA hosted the meeting there, supporting the reinstatement of democratic institutions and normality in my country”.
 
In closing, the Uruguayan minister highlighted the work of IICA Director General, Manuel Otero, describing the specialized agency for agricultural and rural development as “a great institution that has contributed immensely to agricultural development in our hemisphere and played a major role in not only in cooperation, technical assistance and technological development, but also in coordinating agricultural public policies. These policies will be essential in strengthening our position in international forums in discussions on the environment, trade, best practices and food security”.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int