The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) opened its 25th Regional Conference for the Near East in Beirut on Monday morning. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf and agriculture ministers of 29 Asian and African countries are participating in the four-day conference.

The biennial conference is set to tackle issues relating to food security, review FAO's activities in the region and make recommendation for the organization's general conference to be held in Rome in 2001.

The conference aims to formulate a strategic framework for sustainable agricultural development in the Near East. It is also to explore ways to improve household nutrition security and education, review progress made in the multinational trade negotiations of the World Trade Organization on agriculture and the need for a regional animal health forum for the Near East. The FAO, founded in 1945 in Quebec, Canada, is the largest specialized agency in the United Nations system and the leading agency for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and rural development. It has 179 member countries and one member organization -- the European Union.