Vietnam pledges to join efforts to solve food crisis

As the world’s second largest rice exporter, Vietnam is fully aware of its responsibility to make more active contributions to the common efforts to find solution to the food crisis, said a senior diplomat...

As the world’s second largest rice exporter, Vietnam is fully aware of its responsibility to make more active contributions to the common efforts to find solution to the food crisis, said a senior diplomat.

Vu Anh Quang, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva, made the statement at the Social Forum’s session on food security and the right to food on Sept. 3.

“In the current situation of soaring food prices and inflation worldwide affecting food security and the realisation of the right to food for all, Vietnam welcomes on-going efforts of the international community in arriving at possible solutions and responses to these problems,” Quang said.

In the past several months, Vietnam signed rice exporting contracts with a number of Asian and African partners and expects to export at least 4.5 million tonnes of rice this year, according to the minister counsellor.

He went on to say Vietnam at the same time has undertaken a series of emergency measures and continued more intensive measures to increase agricultural production in order to ensure sufficient rice supply in the domestic market, ensure the realisation of the right to food for its people and contribute to the global food supply.

“Like other countries, Vietnam views the right to food as one of the most fundamental human rights,” Quang said. “This reflects the reality that the Government of Vietnam has adopted its food policy to ensure food security and long-term and stable right to food for its people.”

In addition, Vietnam considers the agricultural development as a vital area in the process of its national industrialisation and attaches great importance to improving the living conditions of farmers who represent about 70 percent of the country’s population.

The representative highlighted Vietnam ’s agricultural reforming achievements that helped the country emerge as the world’s second largest rice exporter from being a net importer of rice 20 years ago.

Vietnam now also exports a large volume of many other agricultural products such as coffee, pepper, fishery and forestry products, the minister counsellor added.

The Social Forum is a subordinate body of the Human Rights Council. It serves as a platform for UN member nations and international organisations to discuss social issues regarding the implementation and promotion of human rights.