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Int'l community needs to work together for food security

Says finance minister

23 April 2010, 18:00 PM

METROPOLITAN

Unb, Washington

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the international community needs to work together to ensure food security for all. The food security remains a priority area for the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government that has been taking steps to ensure that, he said at a roundtable on Food Security hosted by US Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner in Washington on Thursday. The international community also has a role in this vital area, he added. The roundtable was attended by policy makers, bankers and academics. Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration attaches great importance to ensure food security for all and with this goal in mind the US government has organised the roundtable forum. The roundtable was followed by a press conference. Muhith was the only representative from the recipient countries who attended the press conference along with Secretary Geithner, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and US Philanthropist Bill Gates. At the press conference, Muhith stressed the need for more allocation in research and development to increase food production. To cope with the shortage of food, he said, it is important to ensure storage facilities to meet such shortage in different countries. Citing Bangladesh's experience, he said the Bangladesh government has put in place a public distribution system which has been functioning effectively. On the necessity of minimum price for the food producers, the finance minister called for finding ways to strike a balance between ensuring a minimum price for food producers and a fair price for the consumers. Muhith is now in Washington on an official visit. As part of G-8 and G-20 initiatives to advance food security, donors have invested in the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme, a new trust fund administered by the World Bank. Initial donors to the fund include the USA, Canada, Spain, South Korea and the Gates Foundation. The donors disclosed the amount of the money they committed to the fund. The USA committed $475 million, Canada 230 million, Spain $95 million, South Korea $50 million and the Gates Foundation $30 million.