KOREA, REPUBLIC OF - COREE, REPUBLIQUE DE - COREA, REPUBLICA DE

His Excellency Soo-Sung Lee, Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea

First of all, allow me to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO for organizing this important Summit. I would also like to join the previous speakers in conveying most profound thanks to the Government of Italy for its warm hospitality.

As we approach the twenty-first century, we have achieved in recent years meaningful results for the prosperity of mankind through various international summits on diverse themes such as the environment, population and social development.

Food security is another important challenge for mankind which needs our concerted efforts and wisdom. In this respect, the World Food Summit is very timely and important.

Back in 1974, when the ideological wall of the Cold War was still high, we gathered in Rome and pledged to "eradicate hunger and malnutrition within a decade". Since then, 22 years have passed. Despite remarkable development in the global economy and the dedicated efforts of FAO, we still live in a world where food security remains an elusive goal.

A recent FAO report shows that the growth rate of world agricultural production has been steadily declining over the past three decades and that nearly 800 million people in developing countries suffer from chronic under-nutrition. At the same time, United Nations projections are that the world's population will increase 72 percent by the year 2050.

In addition, sustainable agricultural production on this planet is considerably threatened by environmental degradation as well as the dwindling availability of arable land. The structure of world food markets also undermines food security.

Now, I would like to suggest a possible response to those challenges in the light of Korea's experiences. The most essential building block of food security for any state would be the active political commitment and vigourous efforts of its own government to resolve the problem.

Fifty years ago, the Republic of Korea was a low-income country with serious food shortages. Through structural reform and technical innovation, we were able to achieve self-sufficiency in major staple food crops in the late 1970s. Continued institutional restructuring has also enabled more efficient use of our marine and forestry resources.

Furthermore, diversification of agricultural income sources and an extensive welfare programme have nearly removed the income gap between Korea's urban and rural populations.

Such progress was made possible through the concerted efforts of the Korean people and by active policy development tailored to Korea's particular circumstances. The importance of indigenous efforts and self-help was a lesson we learned and wish to share with the international community.

The industrialization that many countries have experienced in recent years has been laudable, but it has not been without undesirable side-effects. Korea's case is no exception. Recently, in Korea, the increasing conversion of farmland to other purposes, and a steady migration of people from rural to urban areas have lowered our food self-sufficiency rate to less than 30 percent. Particularly disconcerting is the decline in our self-sufficiency rate of staple food crops.

In this connection, I would like to emphasize a "preventive strategy" for food security. Countries, food importing countries in particular, should secure appropriate levels of reserve stocks and develop effective means to deal with possible disruptive developments in the world food market.

To pursue such a strategy, we first need to create a comprehensive and efficient investment programme to boost national food productivity. This Summit's Plan of Action rightly emphasizes a key element in this effort - the promotion of investment that fosters human resources and rural development.

Secondly, we should endeavour to maintain a sound agricultural community. Agriculture is not only the basic foundation of human civilization, it can also complement other important policy goals such as environmental preservation.

Finally, we must keep in mind that further liberalization of agricultural trade cannot by itself solve the problems of food security. The benefits of freer food trade could be optimized, with cooperative efforts to minimize the negative effects of the international food trading system.

Today, in the era of growing interdependence among nations, it is clear that a fair distribution of food and sound food security for all will be harder to attain without proper assistance from developed to developing countries.

The Least Developed Countries, especially those in Africa, are marginalized in the world economy due to poor infrastructure, an unfavourable natural environment and reductions in Official Development Assistance (ODA). Developed countries should expand their foreign aid to build up the economic capability of those countries.

In addition, food exporting countries should avoid arbitrary export restrictions to ensure freer access to agricultural products for food importing countries.

The Republic of Korea would gladly participate in international efforts to achieve food security for all. Through the Korea International Cooperation Agency, Korea is supporting human resource development in the developing countries and sharing with them the know-how of economic and social development. We also plan to establish a Trust Fund with FAO this year. As declared by President Kim Young Sam at the World Summit for Social Development last year, we are committed to substantially expanding the scope of our ODA commensurate with our economic capability.

Food security can only been ensured if the international community shares both a common recognition of the challenges it now faces and the concerted political will to overcome them. With this is mind, I therefore welcome the Rome Declaration and the Plan of Action adopted at this Summit as a monumental step forward. It is a meaningful achievement that, by recognizing the multi-faceted nature of food security, we have agreed to pursue policies that harmoniously promote production, trade, investment and distribution.

I am sure that this historic Summit will mark a decisive turning point in the struggle of mankind against hunger and poverty. The momentum we build at this Summit will lead to creating a more prosperous twenty-first century for all of us.