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FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia

Regional Representative: Viorel Gutu

Viorel Gutu has gained over 30 years of experience in agricultural development, enterprise restructuring, structural reforms, and private business development through his involvement in the public and private sector, and implementation of international projects.

A national of the Republic of Moldova, Viorel Gutu was appointed to the post of FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia in February 2024. Prior to that he served as FAO Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and Representative for Türkiye and Uzbekistan.

He joined FAO in 2014 as the head of the FAO Tajikistan office, leading the Country Office in establishing productive relations with the national government and key donors.

Before joining FAO, Gutu was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry in the Republic of Moldova. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of strategic policy implementation in agriculture and rural development. He also served as an economic affairs officer with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, where he dealt with peacekeeping operations, poverty alleviation and the prevention of emergency situations. He holds a doctoral degree in economics.

 

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FAO takes lead coordination role for the One Health approach in Europe and Central Asia
11/04/2025
The One Health approach recognizes the interconnections between people and ecosystems and aims to sustainably balance the health of people, plants, animals and the environment. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is strongly committed to this integrated, unifying approach. This was the core message, delivered by FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia Viorel Gutu at a high-level meeting of the Regional One Health Coordination Mechanism today in Copenhagen when the chairmanship of the Mechanism was handed over from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) to FAO, ensuring continued collaboration on One Health priorities in the region.
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