Finland values partnership with CFC
Amb. Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Managing Director of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) met H.E. Mr. Ilkka-Pekka Similä, Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to the Netherlands, today at the Embassy of Finland in The Hague to discuss CFC’s activities and its impact on the ground.
Ambassador Belal gave an introduction on the CFC and highlighted the growing demand for CFC investments globally considering the prevailing situation due to pandemic, war in Ukraine and rising US exchange rates. He emphasized the need for greater support to meet the expectations of member countries.
Furthermore, Ambassador Belal discussed the introduction of the Agricultural Commodity Transformation (ACT) Fund, previously known as CIIF, at the LDC5 Conference in Doha. He shared the CFC's roadmap for poverty alleviation in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Land Locked Developed Countries (LLDCs), and beyond. Member countries were encouraged to join the ACT Fund as anchor investors and promote it to the private sector.
Ambassador Similä expressed appreciation for the CFC's initiative in launching the ACT Fund. He reiterated his country’s support for the issues around commodities and their impacts on the nature and the people.
In response, Ambassador Belal assured that CFC would continue to pursue innovative approaches to make its services available to as many people as possible in commodity-dependent developing countries. Ambassador Belal also thanked Finland for their continued support and assistance for the mission of CFC.
Ambassador Similä shared ideas on how CFC and Finland could do more together in the future and assured to remain engaged towards continuing this shared journey of sustainability.