In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate the Merciful

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

At the outset, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the President of IFAD, Mr. Lennart Båge, and his colleagues for their excellent preparations made for this important session.

IFAD, as a funding agency in the area of agriculture development, has a great role to play in developing countries and in particular in rural areas to fight against poverty and hunger. On behalf of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran I would like to express my support and appreciation to IFAD for its enduring efforts toward poverty reduction throughout the world. We are of the view that the role of the developed countries in resource mobilization particularly through 7th replenishment of IFAD’s resources, is of paramount important to intensify international cooperation and IFAD’s efforts in the field.

Undoubtedly, we look forward to an IFAD whose strategic role in terms of ideas, knowledge, innovations and resources, places it at the leading edge of the international efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger. We believe that IFAD has done its utmost to adapt itself to the new international environment and challenges. Iran has continuously extended its support to the management of IFAD when it comes to making IFAD a more effective and efficient institution. To this end, allow me to echo the call for further reform in order to make IFAD more transparent and democratic institution.

          By recognizing the importance of rural development, in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of halving the proportion of extremely poor and hungry people by 2015, we believe that the 30th session of the Governing Council has properly chosen “rural employment and livelihoods” as the theme for this meeting. We look forward to fruitful deliberations on this theme by the Governors and country representatives during general discussions and roundtables.

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Delegates,

          Rich genetic resources, enormous natural resources and variety of agricultural crops and products in Iran made the agriculture as one of the most important sectors of economy of the country. Agriculture currently accounts for 33% of our overall workforce, 26% of gross domestic production, 26% of non-oil export and over 85% of food supplies of the country. It plays a crucial and valuable role in the national development and food security strategies.

Pursuant to the World Food Summit in 1996 and in realization of sustainable food security, Iran has taken major steps in conducting structural reform in rural and agriculture sectors. Outcomes of these abundant and sustained efforts have been reflected in various indexes of development in agriculture sector.

Despite frequent and severe drought in different provinces, over the last decade, agriculture sector continued its growth more rapidly in the light of proper policies. For instance, after years, the country became self-sufficient in wheat production and has managed to sustain that self-efficiency. It is against the reality that a few years ago Iran was among the main importers of this strategic crop, namely at the amount of 7 million tons per year. The agriculture sector has experienced a significant growth in production of many other crops as well.

Many of these achievements are indebted to structural development, adoption of proper policies, Government public and private investment, Government supportive policies and providing proper environment for agriculture sector as well as strong sense of participation of manpower in agriculture and rural sectors. In this progressive trend, we have benefited from the international experiences, and in its turn my country is ready and willing to share its experiences with other IFAD Member States. 

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Delegates,

Before I conclude, I would like to assure you and this august body of full cooperation of my delegation in supporting you to make this session of the Governing Council a success.