The 34th Executive Committee (EC-34) meeting of the Centre for Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) commenced on Tuesday in Bangkok, Thailand, for a two-day duration.

Ali Kiyani Rad, President of the Research Institute for Planning, Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, is representing the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) at the meeting.

The 24th Governing Council (GC-24) meeting of CIRDAP will also be held on Thursday, June 8th. Hoshyar Mohammadi, Deputy Minister of Management and Resources Development of the Ministry of Agriculture, will represent the Minister of Agriculture in this meeting.

CIRDAP is an intergovernmental and international center established under the auspices of FAO in 1978. Its establishment aims to share experiences, conduct studies and research, and assist member countries in formulating and implementing rural development programs. CIRDAP currently has 15 member countries from the Asia-Pacific region. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been a member of this center since 2004 with a law passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The three policymaking bodies of the center are the Technical Committee (TC), the Executive Committee (EC) and the Governing Council (GC).

The Ministry of Agriculture has introduced the Research Institute as the representative of the IRI in the Technical Committee and the Executive Committee. The Minister of Agriculture is also the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Governing Council.