UN food chief wants Thai help

UN food chief wants Thai help

BANGKOK (AP): Thailand, one of Asia's most efficient food
producers, was urged by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture
Organization's (FAO) chief yesterday to help less developed
countries feed themselves.

Jacques Diouf, the FAO director-general, and his staff said
Thailand could help other countries develop agriculture and that
private investment in food production would pay dividends in the
future.

Diouf is making a four-day visit to Thailand to persuade
government and business leaders to cooperate and share know-how
with other countries, a theme that emerged during last year's
World Food Summit in Rome.

A non-binding plan adopted at the summit aims to halve the
number of hungry people in the world. The summit was criticized
at the time as an elaborate gathering that accomplished little
practical in the way of ending hunger.