President of the Republic discusses world food crisis

Rome, 3.6.2008  |  press release

Today the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attended the Conference on ‘World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy’, organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), where he delivered a speech and presented the European Union’s views on the current food crisis. He participated in the discussion on possible solutions to the crisis.

Apart from short-term measures which require an increased humanitarian supply of food to the most endangered countries, Dr Türk particularly stressed the need to invest in agricultural production. Investment of this kind needed to be made at the global level through well-organised international aid, the President pointed out and he highlighted that countries should maintain their role in shaping agricultural policy. In future, the coordination of measures will require that agricultural policies be brought in line with economic development and environmental protection, he added.

The Slovenian President, Dr Danilo Türk, advocated the successful conclusion of the current round of negotiations under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation and a gradual elimination of export subsidies in agriculture. As regards biofuels, the President of the Republic stressed that currently there were no generally-accepted scientifically-based ideas regarding their economic, environmental and agricultural effects. In Europe, the future of biofuels lies in second-generation biofuels, which will not excessively burden cultivable land needed for food production, he added.

In the margins of today’s meeting, Dr Türk, had a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, in which they discussed the issues on the conference agenda as well as the situation in the Balkans and in the Andes region of Latin America.

In the afternoon, Dr Danilo Türk met the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-moon, at his request. They discussed the conference agenda issues, in particular coordination methods within the UN system for addressing the current food crisis. The discussion also touched upon certain crisis areas, namely the situations in Cyprus, Lebanon and Kosovo. They talked about the Millennium Development Goals and preparations for the meeting of the UN General Assembly in autumn.

The President of the Republic attended a working dinner, hosted by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The discussion over dinner concerned various aspects of the current crisis resulting from high food prices, specifically: urgent measures in this area, investment in agriculture and the regulation of trade in agricultural products. At dinner, Dr Türk spoke about the issue of export restrictions affecting trade in agricultural products and spoke in favour of addressing this issue within the current round of negotiations on international trade being held the under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation.