FAO holds informal meeting in Laos to discuss future of food, agriculture
The future of food and agriculture was on top of the agenda for officials gathered here for the 35th Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) Informal Country Consultation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday.
Lao Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Phouangpar isak Pravongviengkham, and FAO Representative to the Lao People's Democratic Republic Nasar Hayat were joined by representatives from the government and civil society organizations to discuss the timely topics on food and agriculture ahead of the 35th Session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC 35) in Thimphu, capital of Bhutan from Feb. 17 to Feb. 20, Lao News Agency (KPL) reported.
Speaking at Monday's country consultation meeting in Vientiane for APRC 35, Deputy Minister Phouangparisak said the Lao government was working on key points with its partners to address food and nutrition security which could be shared during the regional conference, according to local daily
Vientiane Times.
This included balancing support for the commercialization of agriculture with food security and access to nutritious food by all communities.
Phouangparisak said the consultation would enhance exchanges among participants in collecting information on the remaining issues in agricultural development to be addressed at next month's conference.
Hayat said the regional conference was a forum where ministers and high-ranking officials from FAO member states in each of the five regions met to discuss issues relating to food and agriculture to obtain regional coherence.
He pointed out that country consultations would be summarised and shared with regional and global teams to provide guidance on areas of regional priority for FAO's work in 2020-2021, based on major trends and challenges in the region, including the Sustainable Development Goals and climate change, and experience with regional initiatives in 2018-2019.
FAO Regional Conferences are an official forum where ministers and high-ranking officials from FAO member states in each of the five regions meet to discuss issues related to food and agriculture in an effort to obtain regional coherence.
While regional conferences typically discuss current and emerging regional trends and challenges, the APRC 35 will also introduce innovation and digital technologies that are helping to improve food security and nutrition across the region. In individual stocks trade, ANA Holdings rose 0.85 percent to 3,671 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported All Nippon Airways is entering a comprehensive tie-up with Singapore Airlines to join forces to fend off competition in an increasingly crowded Southeast Asian market.
Sony was up 1.08 percent at 8,010 yen while Toshiba fell 4.17 percent to 3,790 yen after the company reported that a subsidiary padded sales by 20 billion yen ($181 million).
Global equities rose on Friday, with Wall Street stocks ending at fresh records, as solid Chinese economic data brightened the global outlook following the landmark US-China trade deal earlier in the week.
European markets were all higher following signs the Chinese economy is stabilizing. "China released some broadly positive economic reports, which has boosted sentiment around the globe," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
Apart from a blip last week caused by the US killing of Iran's top general, markets have had a strong start to the new decade, building on the rally of late 2019. The gains have been fanned by the "phase one" trade agreement signed this week by the United States and China as well as signs of improvement in various economies, lower interest rates, government stimulus and easing Brexit concerns. The prospect of a healthy batch of corporate earnings means there are hopes for further advances as well.
Analysts see few economic clouds on the horizon in the short term but worry that high stock valuations could prompt a selloff.
Beijing contributed to the feel-good atmosphere, releasing data that said the world's second biggest economy expanded by 6.1 percent last year.
While that was the slowest pace in three decades and well below the 2018 level of 6.6 percent, it was in line with expectations and the government's target.
The six percent growth for October-December was the same as the previous quarter, and traders were cheered by a better-than-forecast rise in retail sales, industrial output and investment.