(VOVworld) - Vietnamese (VOVworld) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung says Vietnam will continue to support future initiatives and activities of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Vietnam will continue to support future initiatives and activities of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. At a meeting with FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva in Hanoi on Thursday, Prime Minister Dung praised the organization for considering Vietnam an important partner in agricultural cooperation under 400 FAO-funded projects. The Prime Minister spoke highly of achievements in FAO South South Cooperation saying Vietnam strongly supports the program and has sent agriculture experts to other developing countries. He urged FAO to continue to support Vietnam in food security, nutrition, poverty reduction, environmental protection, and climate change adaptation.

The same day, Prime Minister attended the 31^st Asia Pacific Regional Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Hanoi. Under the theme” Food security and poverty reduction in rural areas”, the conference is focused on proposals and action programs for the region over the next two years. Agriculture plays a key role in economic development in most countries in the Asia Pacific region, many of which have tilted their policies toward increased investment in agriculture and rural areas. "In recent decades, thanks to efforts by regional countries and support from international organizations, especially the FAO, world food production has obtained remarkable results, food security has been improved and many countries have become food self sufficient. Many countries have restructured their agricultural production to increase productivity, quality and efficiency to ensure more sustainable food security including nutrition security in combination with environmental protection", said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.