[FAO NEWS RELEASE - www.fao.org] Contact FAO Media Relations Office (+39) 06 570 53625 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Mobilizing technologies, innovations, knowledge and expertise to reshape food systems FAO fosters partnerships with private sector 26 September 2019, New York - Establishing a new business model based on science, data, transparency and accountability and conducive to strong partnerships with the private sector, is a major focus for FAO, the Organization's Director-General Qu Dongyu today told private sector representatives at a meeting on the margins of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly. "The world needs a strong, efficient and dynamic FAO. And FAO needs strong reliable partnerships with you," said the FAO chief. The meeting provided a platform to discuss and strengthen partnerships for realizing the much-needed transformation in food systems, and mobilizing all available technologies, innovations, knowledge and expertise to achieve positive impact at scale in the agriculture sectors. FAO presented the new Hand-in-Hand Initiative to representatives of the private sector and foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Danone, as well as UN entities and other institutions, with the aim of garnering support and feedback. The initiative looks at bringing countries with the highest poverty and hunger rates together with developed countries to support development efforts in the Least Landlocked Developing Countries, Least Developed Small Island Developing States, and countries affected by food crises. In its next phase, the initiative will support highly-populated, less developed countries. Overall, FAO works to make private sector investments compliant with the Sustainable Development Goals across the agricultural value chain. For example, FAO's AgrInvest is a program being implemented in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Niger, and Burkina Faso that leverages development funding to unlock private investments for the agri-food sector. Participants at the FAO Partnership Breakfast, Thursday 26 September 2019, New York included: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Danone Ikea Foundation Yunus Social Business Centre ENI Mars Google Yara EAT Forum DSM CP Group - Charoen Pokphand Group Global Pulse Confederation UNCCD World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) 1 UNIDO Global Dairy Platform Wageningen University, Netherlands International Fertilizer Association (IFA) Grace Communications IFPRI Agricultural Finance Corporation Emerging Ag Ningxia Baofeng Group co., LTD Ningxia Yanbao Charity Foundation UNDP UN Global Compact | read this story online<http://www.fao.org/news/archive/news-by-date/2019/en/> | [2019 138/en] Journalists & editors: For video, photos, audio clips contact: (+39) 06 570 53625 or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. Online tools: Footage download via FAO Media Vault<http://tv.fao.org/> Photos via the FAOnews Flickr account<http://www.flickr.com/photos/faonews> FAO's online newsroom<http://www.fao.org/news/newsroom-home/en/> RSS feed<http://www.fao.org/news/rss-feed/en/> of FAO news releases Follow us on Twitter: @FAOnews<https://twitter.com/faonews/> This news release was issued by the Media Office at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To unsubscribe from this news service click the link below or send an email to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> with "signoff Media-G-Eng-L" as the only text in the message body. You can also manage your subscription online, here<https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa>. To receive news releases in plain text format rather than HTML, contact us. FAO | Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy | (+39) 06 570 53625 | www.fao.org<http://www.fao.org> ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the Media-G-Permrepeng-L list, click the following link: &*TICKET_URL(Media-G-Permrepeng-L,SIGNOFF);