Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Väyrynen to FAO and OECD meetings

Press release 190/2008
2 June, 2008

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen will participate in the High-Level Conference on World Food Security, and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy to be organised in Rome on 4 June by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO. The conference will bring together more than 150 Heads of State and Governments and ministers to discuss the topical question of soaring food and fuel prices and to seek common solutions to the food crisis thus created.

In conjunction with the meeting, Väyrynen will have bilateral meetings with the Director-General of FAO, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, WFP, and the Foreign Minister of Australia. In addition, he will also meet the Assistant Director-General for Forestry Department, FAO.

From Rome, Minister Väyrynen will travel to Paris in order to participate in the annual ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD. The second chair of the Finnish delegation will be Minister of Public Administration and Local Government Mari Kiviniemi.

The overall theme of the ministerial is "Outreach, Reform and the Economics of Climate Change". The main purpose of the meeting is to seek cost-effective means by which to curb climate change. Another aim is to ponder how OECD could support the operation of a multilateral trade system. The meeting will also assess the progress of the five candidate countries for accession to OECD.

Additional information: Second Secretary Anu Konttinen (FAO), tel. +358 9 1605 6328 or +358 40 740 8965, Counsellor Vesa Hölttä (OECD), tel. +359 9 1605 5741 or +358 40 527 4903, and Advisor to the Minister Päivi Nevala, tel. +358 9 1605 6171 or +358 40 753 4375