NA Chairman addresses G20 talks on food security

NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the first plenary session of G20 parliamentary speakers which opened in Ottawa on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

OTTAWA — Solutions and recommendations made by G20 parliamentary speakers to meet food production and distribution demand will contribute to dealing with the global challenge of food security, said Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.

The statement was made at the first plenary session of G20 parliamentary speakers that opened in Ottawa on Friday morning (local time).

The Vietnamese legislative chief highlighted the theme of the forum – implementing a strategy to meet food production and distribution demand. He voiced his support for creating new models for food security, peace and global economic stability.

To deal with the challenge of food security, Trong suggested countries focus on accelerating the implementation of national and international commitments and action programmes on food security.

G20 legislative bodies should work closely on devising and implementing national food security programmes and strategies, he said.

Attention should be paid to facilitating food production and distribution by motivating and ensuring the interests of producers are met. He said there should be increased investment in boosting food productivity and quality, while building a stable food-distribution system and increasing people's access to food. He added that food security should be integrated with climate change programmes.

Trong stressed that parliaments should actively promote the implementation of global initiatives on food security, such as the initiative to increase preferential credit for developing countries to handle issues relating to climate change, food security and sustainable development.

He said promoting liberalisation of agricultural trade to improve food distribution on a global scale was the biggest concern of many countries.

Specific

The G20 and the international community need more specific measures to cut tariff and non-tariff barriers on food and farm products and to abolish developed countries' heavy subsidies on their own agricultural products, Trong said.

G20 legislative bodies need to co-ordinate with their governments to hasten and conclude the Doha negotiation process, he said.

Trong added that the G20 should help the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) set up an early warning mechanism for potential food crises. The system should monitor the food situation in the 50 or so countries that are most vulnerable to hunger, he added.

Viet Nam proposed the international community, particularly G20 members, facilitate North-South and South-South co-operation to ensure food security in densely populated low-income developing countries, he said.

He also proposed the establishment and maintenance of regular talks and consultations among G20 legislative bodies to improve decision making on economic and development issues, including food security.

The NA speaker added that the Vietnamese and other ASEAN parliaments appreciated the significance of the G20 meeting and hoped that greater consultation and experience-sharing would take place in future.

On the sidelines of the G20 parliamentary leaders meeting, Trong met South Korean parliamentary speaker Park Hee-tae .

He said relations between the Vietnamese and South Korean legislative bodies would be further enhanced.

He congratulated South Korea on hosting the G20 Summit in November, and expressed his belief that the meeting would be successful.

He thanked South Korea for inviting Viet Nam, as chair of ASEAN and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), to the summit.

Trong said he hoped the two sides would continue to join hands and support multilateral forums. He also called on South Korea, as an AIPA dialogue partner, to help the Vietnamese National Assembly fulfil its role as AIPA chair, and particularly with hosting the AIPA-31 General Assembly.

Achievements

Meanwhile, Park Hee-tae congratulated Viet Nam on its development achievements, saying he believed Viet Nam's prosperity would go from strength to strength. He also promised to do his best to further promote bilateral relations, particularly between the two parliaments, and said he would like to see more exchanges and greater co-operation in tourism. — VNS