Governors,
Mr. President
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Attending the 34th Session of the Governing Council of IFAD on behalf of Austria is a great pleasure and privilege for me.

2010 was the fist year of the 8th replenishment period with a target lending level of around USD 800 Mio.  According to the Midterm document the Fund even surpassed this threshold in terms of commitments. That is commendable. It represents a sizeable increase over the previous years. The ownership has strengthened the financial position of the Institution which should enable the Fund to raise the necessary resources to accomplish the USD 3 billon funding target for the whole replenishment period.

We expect that this financial empowerment will translate into a significant contribution of the Fund to rural poverty alleviation and   increase of food production in its poor client countries and regions of the world.

Over the last thirty years IFAD has developed a rich knowledge base for the successful promotion of agricultural development. This know how must be applied in the most useful way.  I want to encourage the Fund given its financial and size constraints to try to leverage its knowledge and competency to maximise its development effectiveness and its contribution to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

This requires IFAD’s clients and development partners to be impressed by the Fund’s work and performance and consequently be convinced that the Fund’s innovative approaches and successful projects merit being scaled up and multiplied.  Such an approach must be consequently pursued. It will allow this organisation to more sustainably impact agricultural development in its poor client countries.

It is obvious that over the last years since the outbreak of the food price crisis IFAD has assumed a higher profile. It plays an active role in the international efforts to counter rising food prices and help increase food production. The Aquila summit showed that the mission of IFAD is recognised at the global stage. This positive development is acknowledged by the membership and the Fund must continue to live up to this challenge.

We know from the reviews of IFAD’s impact that the Fund’s rural poverty impact has improved over the years, however more dedicated efforts are still necessary to increase project efficiency and scaling up.

It is general wisdom that it needs two to make undertakings a success. Competent partner governments in countries of operations are a prerequisite for projects and programmes to be successful. Therefore besides policy dialogue, capacity building of development counterparts is important. The upgrading of skills of key institutions in borrowing governments involved in the design and implementation of IFAD financed projects should be given appropriate space in the context of the implementation of country strategies.

I encourage the Fund to fully commit to these issues to further increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations.

2011 will be the year of the Ninth Replenishment exercise. This will provide us with the opportunity to review the progress made during the first year of the eighth replenishment period and to set priorities for the next financing period.

The challenges of food security and affordable food prices remain valid as the number of poor people in the developing countries is growing continuously and commodity prices are rising again.

In this context boosting the production capacity of the world’s 500 million small holder farmers which are the core clientele of IFAD offers a chance of sustainably raising agricultural productivity and output and food supply. Helping to engage its target group into the production and supply chain will be a major challenge for the Fund. Such and other pertinent issues like scaling up, gender and improved efficiency and effectiveness at the corporate and host government level will be topics at the forthcoming negotiations.

Regarding the Budget for 2011 we can approve the proposed figures. However, the 5,4 per cent increase of the administrative budget is rather high and should not serve as template for future  budgets.

We  also support the envisaged lending level for 2011 in the order of 1 billon USD which should attain even 1,5 billon USD by using additional funds from bilateral donors. I am convinced that the Fund can successfully handle  the  implementation of such a substantive increase of its program of work.

Two prospective new members have applied for membership. I wish to congratulate the Fund to its growing membership and welcome Hungary and Uzbekistan as new members of the Institution.

Mr. President,

you have done an excellent job since you assumed office. May I wish you continued luck and success.

In conclusion my thanks also go to the excellent staff of the institution for its professional work and proven dedication.

19 February 2011