NA Chairman addresses G20 meeting

Solutions and recommendations on meeting production demands and food distribution by G20 parliamentary leaders will contribute to dealing with the global challenge of ensuring food security, said Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.

NA Chairman Trong made the statement at the first plenary session of the policy consultation of G20 parliamentary speakers that opened in Ottawa, Canada, on the morning of Sept. 3 (local time).

The Vietnamese legislative chief highlighted the theme of the meeting which is to implement a strategy on meeting production demands and food distribution, and voiced his support for creating new models for food security, peace and global economic stability.

To deal with food security challenges, the NA leader suggested that countries take more drastic measures, focusing on accelerating the implementation of national and international commitments and action programmes on food security.

G20 legislative bodies should play a key role in this process, he said, emphasising the necessity for parliaments to closely work with governments in devising and implementing national food security programmes and strategies.

Focus should be paid to facilitating food production and distribution through creating a motive and ensuring interests for producers, increasing investment to raise food productivity and quality, building a stable food distribution system, increasing people access to food, and integrating food security with climate change programmes, he stressed.

Trong laid stress on the parliaments’ active role in promoting the implementation of global initiatives on food security, including the initiative to increase preferential credits for developing countries to handle issues relating to climate change, food security and sustainable development.

He noted that promoting liberalisation of agricultural trade to improve food distribution on a global scale is the biggest concern of many countries. The G20 and the international community need more specific measures to cut tariff and non-tariff barriers for food and farm products and abolish heavy subsidies of developed countries for their own agriculture immediately, Trong said.

G20 parliaments need to coordinate with their governments to hasten and conclude the Doha negotiation process, said the Vietnamese legislative chief.

He proposed the meeting support the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to set up an early warning mechanism for a possible food crisis. The system will monitor the database and information of around 50 countries that are most vulnerable to food crisis, he added.

Vietnam proposed that the international community, especially G20 members, facilitate the North-South and South-South cooperation so as to ensure food security for densely-populated and low-income developing countries, he said.

He also proposed the establishment and maintenance of regular dialogues and consultations for G20 parliaments and governments so as to improve the efficiency of the group’s important decisions on economic and development issues, including food security.

The Vietnamese NA leader confirmed that the Vietnamese and other ASEAN parliaments appreciated the significance of the meeting and wished to maintain consultations and share experiences on issues of mutual concern with G20 parliaments in the future.