Cison di Valmarino to host meeting of G8 Agriculture Ministers
Food security, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy resources and liberalisation of the world trade – all this with a focus on the search for ways out of the crisis – will be discussed at the meeting of the G8 Agriculture Ministers.
Cison di Valmarino, an Italian town in the Treviso province, will host not only the G8 Agriculture leaders but also representatives of China, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, India, Australia, South Africa and representatives of other countries and international organisations. The delegation of the Presidency is led by First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ivo Hlaváč.
Once again, six months after the Toyako Summit, representatives of the most significant global actors have the opportunity to continue in their political discussions on the future of agriculture. They will meet at a time when fluctuations of global agricultural commodity prices have decreased, but the world finds itself in the midst of a financial and economic recession. The objective of the political dialogue at the G8 summit will be to look for ways in which agriculture can fulfil its fundamental role and provide subsistence for the ever-growing world population. According to First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ivo Hlaváč such ways should be sought in absolute increase of global agricultural production, while meeting environmental requirements of economic activities, and also in the liberalisation of commercial and political conditions, which will simplify the global commercial flow of agricultural products.
“The multilateral system of trading must remain the basis of the liberalisation of world trade conditions. A successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organisation will not only improve access of goods from developing countries to the markets of the developed countries - the liberalisation of conditions for mutual trading between the developing and the least developed countries is at least equally important”, said Deputy Minister Hlaváč. Increasing the volume of global production must go hand in hand with the principles of sustainable growth, rural development, economical use of water sources and a curb on unjustifiable increase in ecological burdens. It is precisely in these principles that the Presidency sees the main areas for partnership between the developed and the developing countries, particularly as regards various types of development cooperation.
According to Deputy Minister Hlaváč the current focus and extent of the actual programmes of development cooperation broadly corresponds to the needs. The same can be said about the financial sums contributed to the programmes by a number of governments - all in all, the EU gives more than ten billion euros annually. However, the implementation of these programmes is not always efficient, which is manifested, for instance, by the status quo as regards the Millennium Development Goals and by the decreasing share of funding that goes to the agricultural sector in the context of development cooperation. “First and foremost, we must strive for sustainable and efficient programmes of development cooperation. Coordination of all relevant areas should be the fundamental principle, whether it concerns foreign relations, security, commerce or development. It is difficult to imagine functional local agricultural markets without a functioning educational system, without public administration or security,” emphasised the Deputy Minister.
Contact:
- Tereza M. Dvořáčková, spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture for the Czech EU Presidency
- tel.: +420 221 813 063, mobile: +420 737 213 030; e-mail: tereza.dvorackova@mze.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:31
