Your Excellency, President Colom,
Madam Torres de Colom, First Lady
Your Excellency, Minister Rodas,
Ambassadors,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to Rome and welcome to IFAD.

President Colom – it is my very great pleasure to host this lunch in honour of your visit.

Let me say at the outset that Guatemala is one of IFAD’s staunchest allies. We have enjoyed close and effective collaboration with your country, with your Government and with your people for 26 years. So, as we embark on the 2010 to 2012 Eighth Replenishment period, I am delighted to have this opportunity to reaffirm the strength and importance of our relationship.

And this is a unique opportunity. Your visit to IFAD today is the first by a President of Guatemala. This in itself is an indication, I believe, of the value which we both attach to our collaboration.

For good reason: we have achieved much together over the years.

For example:

• We have worked together on post-conflict reconstruction and capacity building, learning important lessons from Guatemala’s own experience, which we can apply in other post-conflict zones. Support to the National Peace Fund (FONAPAZ) was instrumental for IFAD in these efforts, and I would like to commend the work of its first Executive Director, President Colom.
• We have worked together to recognise the central role that Guatemala’s women play in building Guatemala’s economic strength. The civil war, which ended in 1996, left hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans, resulting in a high number of women-headed households. Their contribution to growth and prosperity should be recognized.
• We have worked together to involve Guatemala’s indigenous people into our programmes, promoting the concept of participatory decision-making. In Guatemala, we share your government’s objective to empower indigenous communities to overcome poverty by building on their unique identity and culture;
• We have worked together to involve other key stakeholders in our programmes, such as local governments, civil society and grass roots organizations, so enhancing the sustainability of IFAD’s projects and programmes and, in doing so, supporting Guatemala’s goal of sustainable and inclusive development;
• And we have worked together to build the capacity of Guatemala’s poor rural people to become effective agro-entrepreneurs. We are doing this through strategic alliances between the public and private sectors. Our aim is to improve market access and rural business development – because only then will poor rural people be able to step out of subsistence and into profit.

This is consistent with my vision for IFAD. I believe that commercialization of agriculture is not reserved for large-scale farming. Commercialization of agriculture means economic profitability – producing more per unit input, whether land, irrigation, fertilizer, etc.  Agriculture is a business and our business is to make smallholder agriculture a profitable agro-enterprise. 

Because, without business opportunities in rural areas, young people will be driven to the cities in search of work. And then who will feed the world in 2020 or in 2030?

Guatemala has much to offer as we define our vision and embark on our programme of work for the 8th Replenishment period. In this regard, I should like to take this opportunity to thank His Excellency, Alfredo Trinidad Velásquez, Guatemala’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative here in Rome. The support and collaboration of you and your staff is greatly appreciated.

So – once again, thank you for this visit. And thank you for your continuing support and collaboration. For our part, IFAD will continue to work for the growing prosperity of your country, with more opportunities for all – including poor rural people.

Muchas gracias. Thank you.

Rome, 25 March 2010, IFAD Headquarters