Mr. Chairman,
Hon’ble President of the Republic of Italy,

His Excellency. Mr. Lennart Bage,

Distinguished Governors,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a matter of great pleasure for me to attend the 25th Anniversary Session of IFAD Governing Council. I would like to take the opportunity to convey, on behalf of my delegation, and myself, our warmest congratulation to you, Mr. Chairman, on your assumption of this important chair of this Special Session. I would also like to express our heartiest felicitations to their Excellencies Mr. Willium E. Schuerch and Mr. Roy Fanourakis on their appointment as Vice-Chairs of this Session.

May I, also, on behalf of my delegation and myself, take the opportunity to welcome most warmly the Democratic Republic of Timor as a member, and participant to this Session.

At the outset, allow me, Mr. Chair, to express my delegation’s appreciation to IFAD for selecting the theme of this Session in line with United Nations Millennium Declaration, which is not only relevant to IFAD’s field of work but also very timely, considering the present international scenario.

Mr. Chairman,

As in many other developing countries, the agriculture sector plays a crucial role in the economy of Bangladesh. About 78% of our population is one way or other connected with this sector. It is therefore, quite normal for Bangladesh to attach high priority to the development of the agriculture sector with special emphasis on economic empowerment of women for the aim of alleviating rural poverty. May I underline here that Bangladesh firmly believes from experience that livelihoods and food security of poor and ultra-poor can be improved by convalescing the economic status of women.

Mr. Chairman,

In Bangladesh, we are also convinced like many developing countries that re-engagement in agriculture and in the rural sector is essential, not only for reaching the Millennium Development Goals, but also for increasing economic growth rates. To be effective, however, this re-engagement would require firm grasp of strategies and interventions for effective contribution in achieving sustainable rural development involving the rural poor not as beneficiaries only, but also as empowered agents for change, capable of keeping pace in a world of rapid evolution. To be sure Bangladesh remains firmly committed to supporting the interests of rural people. In doing so, Bangladesh had become increasingly involved in implementing development projects addressing the needs of the extreme poor through national strategies aimed at economic growth, poverty reduction and social development.

Mr. Chairman,

Since its inception, IFAD has been one of Bangladesh’s important development partners contributing to the improvement of the agriculture sector. My delegation, therefore, wishes to place on record its profound gratitude to IFAD for its sustained and continuing support to Bangladesh, particularly in enabling the poorest households benefiting from micro-credit programmes. May I here also state that Bangladesh is firmly committed to IFAD. Our commitment to IFAD is clearly revealed by our regular and timely contribution to IFAD despite financial constraints that overshadow Bangladesh’s economic growth. May I point out here IFAD’s immense success since its inception in bringing together both donors and recipient countries that are also contributors. In this context I would like to profusely thank Mr. Lennart Bage, President of IFAD, for his sincere, determined and successful effort in tackling a number of significant issues during the 6th Replenishment of IFAD’s resources. Indeed, his earnest endeavor contributed positively to the successful conclusion of the Replenishment Negotiations within an unprecedented time frame.

Mr. Chairman,

In conclusion, in this important and appropriate forum, I would like to emphasize IFAD’s need to fulfill its commitment in providing grants as enshrined in its Agreement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This commitment is in tandem with the UN Millennium Declaration that calls on the Global community for both financial and technical support to the most vulnerable group of countries, that is, the poorest of the poor. I believe that IFAD would be inspired and motivated to comply with this requirement once it takes into serious consideration the FAO statistics, which indicate that the proportion of undernourished amongst the total population in the Least Developed Countries (LDCS) had increased from 38% to more than 40% since 1970, while the absolute number of such people rose from 116 million to around 250 million.

I thank you very much for your kind and patient attention.