Statement by Mr. Anwarul Bar Chowdhury
Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of Bangladesh at the 27th Session of the IFAD Governing Council

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Governors,
His Excellency Mr. Lennart Båge,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity to address the Twenty Seventh Session of the Governing Council of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). I would like to extend to you Mr. Chairman my sincere felicitation on your election as Chairman of this Council.

At the outset, allow me Mr. Chair to express my delegation's appreciation to IFAD for selecting the theme 'Trade and Rural Development' which is very much timely and relevant to IFAD's field of work. Since its inception IFAD has always been at the forefront of our fight against hunger and poverty in low-income countries'.

Mr. Chairman,

Bangladesh is a small and densely populated country having 135 million people in about 148 thousand square kilometers of land mass. 70% of total population living in rural area is directly or indirectly engaged in agriculture. Nearly 65% of total labor force is involved in Agriculture of which 55% is involved in crop sector only. In the back drop of endemic vulnerability to natural disasters and land degradation, the country has achieved the primary objective of near self-sufficiency in rice production with a declining cultivated area. In the back drop of higher agricultural growth, mostly from the expansion of HYV rice production achieved during the nineties, the progress in rural poverty reduction has been relatively modest. The increase in productivity of rice cultivation has not been translated in to higher farm incomes due to lower paddy prices compared to wage rate and fertilizer prices.

We are of the view that while agricultural growth will continue to play a major role in rural poverty reduction process, its quantitative impact on poverty reduction would be contingent on diversifying to high-value added crops as well as non-crop agriculture such as poultry, livestock and fishery. Again, prospects for non-farm economy in rural poverty reduction would involve the key challenge of linking the poor rural producers with high-value added non-farm activities. For these people, the question of access to markets and agricultural commodity prices are of critical importance. They directly and indirectly affect the incomes of the rural households as these constitute an essential part of the poverty reduction equation. The present government in Bangladesh under Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, has therefore, accorded highest priority to this sector with a view to enabling the country to meet these challenges and make it a vibrant one.

In this connection, may I add that, the government of Bangladesh has formulated National Rural Development Policy to guide the comprehensive development of the rural areas. The policy also attaches importance on creating efficient and effective local government institutions as the decentralized decision making framework within a participatory mode.

Mr. Chairman,

It is of great concern to all of us that the global system of production and trade increasingly shapes the conditions and prospects of the rural poor. If, particularly in the low income countries, the system is not structured to create opportunities for the rural poor to develop their potentials and defend their interests, then there is little hope of reaching the Millennium Development Goals in large part of the world. In other words a combination of increased ODA with a poverty conscious revision of elements of the international trade system especially agricultural products could speed up progress towards the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals.

The fifth ministerial meeting of WTO at Cancun has raised various questions regarding the future of world trade and the development possibilities through Multilateralism particularly for the developing countries. The challenges for the least developed countries like Bangladesh is not only free and fair trade, but also reorganization of production in the direction of diversification with a greater emphasis on value addition and far greater attention to the quality and phytosanitary standards required for major markets. Many of the poorest countries are not equipped to meet these challenges. Poor producers of developing countries have to be assisted if globalisation is to provide an environment of equitable development. Unfortunately, the need for full integration of these countries into global economy has not yet been fully appreciated as it is evident in the failures in Cancun and of the WTO to deliver on its development promises. Let us not forget that low-income countries generally adopt export-led economic growth strategy for development. It is therefore, essential to place development needs of these countries at the heart of WTO agenda.

In this connection, I would like to state that in mid January this year, trade Ministers and experts from 37 countries met in Dhaka in a two day conference on 'Global Economic Governance and Challenges in Multilateralism'. The delegates underscored the need to get the WTO talks back on the track towards the aim of evolving a development oriented multilateral trading system that would empower countries to accelerate their growth. We feel, multilateral trading system should be further strengthened in a manner that promotes development for all taking into cognizance specific areas of interest for developing countries such as improving market access, special and differential treatment as per commitment of the developed countries and phasing out of agricultural subsidizes which are regarded as core issues of multilateral trade negotiations.

Mr. Chairman,

This is well recognized that there can be no more potent weapon to alleviate poverty than to ensure access to physical, social and financial resources for the poor, an effective functioning market and strengthening the institutions of the poor. We are glad to see that IFAD has already articulated these in its 2002-2006 Strategic Framework. We strongly believe that IFAD would continue its endeavor for upliftment of the rural living standards through poverty reduction and awareness development programme through mobilization of additional resources and make them available on concessional terms in the rural areas.

Mr. Chairman,

IFAD has been an important partner in development for Bangladesh and my government has always given its utmost support to IFAD in its mission on poverty reduction with special focus on the rural sector. I shall conclude by re-affirming my delegation's full support to IFAD, an organization that is considered to be one of our closest partners of development.

Thank you, once again, Mr. Chairman.