The Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC), operating under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has appointed Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė, the director of AgriFood Lithuania and the Chairwoman of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists (LPK) Agrifood and Bioeconomy Committee, as the Vice Chairwoman of the BIAC Food and Agriculture Committee. This is the first time when a representative of Lithuania is appointed to be the Vice Chairman of one of the committees of this organization.
BIAC members unite the largest business organizations of OECD member countries, including LPK. The Business and Industry Advisory Committee plays an important role in representing different sectors and sharing their insights. The BIAC Food and Agriculture Committee aims to increase the resilience of the agrifood sector and contributes by sharing expert knowledge in solving its problems – securing food supply chains, managing natural resources, etc.
“The war in Ukraine has threatened the supply of major grain crops, the costs of raw materials, processing and transportation have increased significantly and the world is more and more talking about a food crisis, so it is very important that we have our expert in the BIAC Food and Agriculture Committee. For us, this is an opportunity to exchange the latest information, and also to strengthen the position of LPK in the formation of the policy of the agrifood and food industry sectors”, said Vidmantas Janulevičius, president of LPK.
Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė highlighted that it will be a great opportunity to effectively use the professional experience gained so far.
“The trust and responsibility given will be a great opportunity to use the competences gained during my professional work experience of more than 13 years in the development of innovative and digital products and technologies of the agrifood sector, and in the work of an international expert on the topics of digitalization of the agrifood sector, R&D and the creation and development of the innovation ecosystem. I have no doubt that the experience I have in working together with the business and scientific community as well as Lithuanian and European policy makers will allow me to contribute to strengthening the influence of the Business at OECD Food and Agriculture Committee in shaping the agrifood sector’s policy of the world’s most advanced governments. I hope to actively contribute to the formation of the committee’s positions on the most important topics for the sector at the moment, such as strengthening food value chains, providing the world’s population with healthy and high-quality food, creating a sustainable environment and managing climate change,” said the new Vice Chairwoman of the Business at OECD Food and Agriculture Committee and the Chairwoman of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists Agrifood and Bioeconomy Committee K. Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė.