A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Ha Cong Tuan has joined 193 others from member nations of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at the ongoing 39 thsession of the FAO Conference in Rome, Italy.

Opened on June6, the week-long event has the theme “Breaking the cycle of ruralpoverty and hunger by strengthening rural resilience: Social protectionand sustainable agricultural development”.

In hisopening speech, Italian President Sergio Mattarella stressed that issuessuch as climate change, natural resource limits and food and energyinsecurity have cross-border consequences.

Thesewill require policy makers to adopt a basic rights-based approach at keysummits on development finance, greenhouse gas emissions and the UN newgoals later this year, he added.

In an interview with a VietnamNews Agency correspondent in Rome, Deputy Minister Tuan affirmed thatVietnam will be responsibly involved in poverty reduction programmesinitiated by FAO and that the country is willing to share its experiencewith international friends in the field.

He noted that the meeting showed the strong determination of FAO and its member nations to promote poverty elimination.

A biennial event, the meeting reviews the implementation of the UNmillennium development goals (MDGs), while focusing on FAO’s futuredevelopment plans and its budget for activities in the next two years.

This year’s talks concentrated on issues related to globalfood security, agriculture and the food market, as well as theimplementation of MDGs and the FAO’s organisational structure.

During the session, FAO also honoured countries that have reachedtheir MDGs and had good achievements in poverty reduction, includingVietnam.

Jose Graziano da Silva from Brazil was re-elected as the Director-General of FAO for the 2015-2019 tenure.-VNA