Remarks by Ambasssador Song Young-Oh,
Representative of the Republic of Korea at the 27th annual meeting of the Governing Council of International Fund for Agricultural Development; Rome, 18-19 February 2004

Mr. Chairman,
Mr. President,
Distinguished Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would first like to congratulate you on your election as Chairman. I have no doubt that under your excellent leadership we will be able to achieve a great deal during this important session.

On the subject of agricultural trade negotiations, it is indeed highly unfortunate that the Cancun Ministerial Conference in September 2003 failed to reach an agreement due to the divergence in positions of member countries.

The level of agricultural development differs from country to country and this need to be given due consideration in our discussion of the agricultural trade system.

We would strongly call for the different positions of the various member countries, whether developed or developing, exporters or importers, to be reflected in a balanced way. Maintaining the domestic agricultural production infrastructure is essential to securing food security and the multi-functionality of agriculture.

In order to reach a well-balanced agreement during the negotiation on agriculture, we need to show flexibility and recognize the need for buffers to ease the shock in sensitive or difficult areas in individual countries. To this end, unlike for other products, we need to implement a gradual reduction in tariffs or subsidies for agricultural products in the process of trade liberalization.

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Governors,

Trade liberalization does not always guarantee the expansion of market access opportunities for farmers in the developing countries or the improvement of the rural economy or rural development. Most rural areas in developing countries have a difficulty in taking advantage of trade liberalization due to insufficient resources.

In the process of trade liberalization talks, therefore we need to take into full account such aspects of agriculture as the importance of food security, environmental considerations and the public good. Without building the domestic agricultural production infrastructure, expanded market access, will be no more than a dream to farmers in the developing world.
At the same time, we need to equip farmers in developing countries with entrepreneurial skills through education and extension programs so that they can transform themselves from merely self-sufficient into commercial farmers.

In order to increase the income of farmers on a continuous and significant basis, we need to seek ways to develop and expand various income sources, for instance, enhancing productivity, producing value-added products, and encouraging earnings outside farming. We also need to attract external capital and technology in rural areas and nurture rural enterprises through systemization and expansion of scale.

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Governors,

It is very timely that IFAD conducted research on measures to expand market access in rural areas by establishing production infrastructure. I welcome the fact that it has opened discussions about attracting enterprises that are adequate for countryside and look forward to IFAD stepping up its activities in the future.

In conclusion, I would like to stress that our common goal of reducing rural poverty and hunger cannot be achieved by the endeavors of developing countries or farmers alone. It requires multidimensional and comprehensive approach. Thus, I believe it is now a more urgent task than at any time in the past that farmers, regional communities, individual countries, and international communities unite in their efforts and work together tirelessly to achieve this truly vital goal.