On January 18 - 21, 2002 President Dmytro Melnychuk had a visit and negotiations with executives and experts of FAO of the United Nations in Rome.

The discussions with FAO experts were based on the following activities:

1. FAO participation in organizing and holding the Third Global Conference of GCHERA in November 2003, Kiev, Ukraine. The conference is to be focused mainly on achievements in agro- and biotechnologies, food quality and safety, and environmental protection.

2. FAO participation at the First Global Exhibition World Agricultural Education, Research, and Technologies in the Third Millennium within the frameworks of the GCHERA Conference in November 2003, Kiev, Ukraine.

3. GCHERA participation at the Second Consultation on Agricultural Information Management in September 2002, Rome, Italy. Organizing a session Knowledge Transfer and Distance Learning.

4. Pilot project on setting up of a number of expert groups to develop global recommendations for curricula and syllabi of agricultural universities (colleges, faculties, etc.) to train professionals for agriculture, forestry, fishery, and veterinary medicine. The objective of this work is to determine corresponding level of demands to the system of training experts for mentioned areas that could allow achieving mutual recognition of educational systems between universities. The recommendations should also content certain orientations for teaching of Social and Political Sciences, first of all, such aspects as global outreaching the ideas of democracy and humanism as well as putting efforts to prevent international terrorism, conflicts, and fascism, drug and alcohol habits, etc.

5. Pilot project on developing an electronic international specialized journal The World Agricultural Education, Research, and Technologies: Achievements and Challenges.

6. Development of The World Higher Educational Institutions Directory (Catalog). The Catalogue will include those higher educational institutions, which provide training of professionals for agriculture, forestry, fishery, veterinary medicine, and all other relevant areas. We are planning to make the catalogue to be of access via Internet as well as to be published as a book and distributed worldwide.
7. Development of the information system AGRONET and involvement of GCHERA universities-members into it.

8. Outreaching of WAICENT (World Agricultural Information Center) among GCHERA universities-members through special projects for faculties and students.

9. Libraries development of GCHERA universities-members and connecting them with FAO library.

10. Edition of practical recommendations developed by FAO for farmers of East European countries.
The main result of this visit is our prearrangement of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and GCHERA. We are planning to sign this agreement in May 2002 in Kiev during the working meeting of GCHERA Executive Committee members.