Minister Glassie to meet new FAO Director General in Vietnam

The Minister of Agriculture Hon Nandie Glassie will travel to Vietnam this week to meet with the new Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Viet Nam.
The new Director-General, Jose Graziano da Silva will be attending the 31st FAO Regional Conference for Asia and Pacific being held in Hanoi from 12-16 March 2012.
Ministers and senior government officials from 44 FAO member countries will attend the meeting as well as representatives from international non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations, United Nations organizations, and civil society.
Minister Glassie said that during the first three days in-depth discussions will occur on a range of issues central to food security and rural poverty alleviation in Asia-Pacific countries.
“The agenda focuses, on regional and global policy and regulatory issues such as the state of food and agriculture in Asia-Pacific and will consider programme and budgetary matters and review proposals for enhancing FAO’s effectiveness and efficiency at country level.”
He said the conference is also an opportunity have input regarding FAO priorities - a discussion he will continue with Mr da Silva in a one-on-one meeting where the Minister will share information on the organisation’s contribution to the Cook Islands along with other matters related to development programmes that are funded by the FAO.
“Mr da Silva took up his role as new Director-General of the FAO in January this year and attaches great importance to the Regional Conferences as an integral part of FAO governance; as a way of bringing FAO closer to member countries and of promoting a bottom up approach which is important to decentralising the FAO,” said Minster Glassie.
The Director-General has devoted himself in the months ahead to the FAO Regional Conference and focusing on five pillars he has presented to the Member states including:
• eradicating hunger;
• moving towards more sustainable systems of food production and consumption;
• achieving greater fairness in the global management of food;
• completing FAO’s reform and decentralisation; and
• expanding South-South cooperation in the FAO.
Regional countries will be represented at the conference by their respective Ministers of Agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy.
FAO is also a source of knowledge and information, and helps developing countries and countries in transition modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices, ensuring good nutrition and food security for all.

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