Spain and IICA sign agreement to establish an office in Madrid

Madrid, March 17, 2015 (IICA). The Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation and for Ibero-America, Jesús Manuel Gracia Aldaz, and the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Victor M. Villalobos, signed an agreement acknowledging IICA’s legal status as an international organization and pledging to ensure independence and freedom of action for its Office in Madrid.

In this agreement, the Kingdom of Spain accepts that the Institute will establish a Permanent Office for Europe (POE) in its territory, undertakes to continue to furnish office space for this purpose, and agrees to provide such facilities as may be required to carry out its activities and perform its duties.

The signing took place in Madrid on March 11 during a visit by the Director General.

While in Madrid, Villalobos participated in a colloquium entitled Innovando agicultura en las Américas, held at Casa de America and attended by authorities from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA) of Spain, the Spanish International Cooperation Agency for Development (AECID), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), as well as several international organizations linked to the agriculture sector and IICA partners in Spain.

The Mexican Ambassador to Spain, Roberta Lajous Vargas, was the guest of honor at the event.

In his presentation, the Director General went over the principal challenges facing agriculture, the importance of innovation as a tool in bringing about a new paradigm in agriculture and the role of the Institute in supporting the efforts of its member countries to make their agricultural sectors more competitive, sustainable and inclusive.

IICA’s partners in Spain

The MAGRAMA and the AECID are IICA’s main strategic partners in Spain. Others that cooperate with the POE are the agricultural councils and cooperation agencies of the autonomous communities in Spain, as well as research institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations of the agricultural sector and public and private entities involved in agricultural and rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The MAGRAMA offers IICA technical cooperation in areas in which it has the necessary expertise and are of interest to LAC, such as irrigation, agricultural insurance and water management.

The POE offers apprenticeships and professional visits in Spain or LAC for agricultural professionals from Spain and Latin America.

The European Commission (EC) has signed contribution agreements with IICA which call for the implementation of several regional programs in LAC. IICA is implementing four European Union projects in several Latin American and Caribbean countries that focus on food security, improved agricultural competitiveness and how to mitigate the impact of and adapt agriculture to climate change.

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is the international organization of the Inter-American System specializing in agriculture and rural well-being. It is headquartered in San Jose, Costa Rica, and operates Offices in its 34 member countries.

In addition, in 2001 it opened the POE in Madrid under a specific agreement signed with the MAGRAMA, which is renewable every five years.

The POE works with the IICA Offices in Canada, Mexico and the United State to establish strategic partnerships and provide technical cooperation to other countries of LAC.

Spain is the only State associated with IICA from outside LAC and, together with the EC, is one of the Institute’s most important strategic partners in Europe.

Video: Colloquium Innovando la agricultura de las Américas

More information:
soraya.villarroya@iica.int

Photos: Flickr Casa de América