Address by Hon Manasseh Sogavare Prime Minister of Solomon Islands at the International Forum on Hybrid Rice Assistance and Global Food Security

Address by Hon Manasseh Sogavare

Prime Minister of Solomon Islands

 at the International Forum on

Hybrid Rice Assistance and Global Food Security

Greetings from Solomon Islands.

I acknowledge the presence of very important and deep interest in this Forum.

Firstly, let me acknowledge the distinguished member of the Politico Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, State Councilor and Foreign Minister WANG Yi who will present the keynote address to this International Forum on Hybrid Rice Assistance and Global Food Security.

His Excellency, Évariste Ndayishimiye, the President of the Republic of Burundi,

His Excellency, QU Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,

His Excellency, Luo Zhaohui, Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency,

Excellencies, I am deeply humbled to accept the invitation by the China International Development Cooperation Agency to address this Hybrid Rice Assistance and Global Food Security Forum.

The significance of this Forum is correctly observed by the Philippine-based international rice research institute, and that I quote "rice is a staple food and provides 20 percent of daily calories needs of more than half of the population worldwide. With the looming increase in population projected to reach about 8.5 billion people by 2030, how can we feed the world sustainably? "  A challenging question indeed!

In this regard, allow me to congratulate the PRC for taking the leading role on the global hybrid rice research and growth since the 1960s. Coming to mind, it is a great contribution by Dr. YUAN Longping who in 1973 successfully cultivated the first hybrid rice strain after almost a decade of rice research, he is properly dubbed the Father of Hybrid Rice.

It is also important to note that China through its decade-long dedication, has been sharing technology on hybrid rice with developing countries, a gesture of world commendation. As a matter of fact, China's hybrid rice assistance has become a symbol of China's foreign aid, featured as a sincere result-oriented affinity and good faith relationship.

We further acknowledge the important role of China's hybrid rice assistance in helping achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, fighting poverty on global scale and safeguarding food security.

Today I want to express that, estimated one billion Solomon dollars is expended for rice imports in the Solomon islands, a country of only around 700000 people. Rice import amounts to around 45 percent of the country's food import, hence, a single most important commodity of concern. Consequently, with deep gratitude, I hereby express the strong interest of the Solomon Island Government on hybrid rice cooperation with China to achieve food self-sufficiency, positive effect on our local economy and enhance employment.

May I also thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to this prestigious International Forum on the Hybrid Rice Assistance and Global Food Security. And I wish this event to be an immense success.

Thank you.