• Vietnam ready to share experience in agriculture and rural development

The five-day conference focused on the challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region, including rising food prices, natural disasters as a consequence of climate change, food exporting policies and the increasing use different kinds of food for producing bio-fuels.

FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) Hiroyuki Konuma said trends in food production, poverty reduction, in socio-economic development, and national and regional initiatives were also discussed at the conference,..

Participants debated two technical reports on ensuring sustainable growth and diversification of agricultural plants, developing value chains and minimizing post-harvest losses for small farmers.

The decisions and proposals made at the event will serve as a foundation for establishing future FAO priorities, programmes and actions and policies for providing consultation and technical support for member countries.

Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat thanked the FAO members, observers from seven United Nations organisations and six inter-governmental organisations, 28 civil organisations and special observers from Singapore, Brunei and Vatican for their great contributions to the event's success.

He said that the most important message from the conference was raising the percentage of sustainable agricultural production to 60 percent by 2050 and halving the rural poverty rate by 2015.

These are major issues for the Asia-Pacific region and the entire world, he said, adding that they will require concentrated efforts from the governments of the related parties.

After the conference, the FAO will help regional countries with food production and poverty reduction, focusing on developing their primary agricultural products, namely rice, coconuts and seafood.

Minister Phat said FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva has asked countries in the region to clarify their priorities and present specific proposals to the FAO for appropriate support for each country and the whole region. The FAO also urged countries to send their experts to work for its sub-organisations.

Delegates also considered the draft of the FAO APRC working programme in the 2012-2015 period and approved Mongolia’s offer to host the next APRC in 2014.

Mr Phat said Vietnam and Mongolia will do their best to implement the working programme effectively.

Both countries called for support and dynamic participation from FAO member countries and  their colleagues at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, as well as the Asia-Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand, and the Asia-Pacific Sub-Regional Office in Samoa to ensure the programme's success.