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.