CIS agro-industrial complex heads to discuss food security.

ASHGABAT, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - Commonwealth of Independent
States' (CIS) exhibition, scientific conference and business forum of
agricultural producers of CIS member states are opening in the capital of
Turkmenistan on Wednesday.


Taking part in the first agricultural forum of
the Commonwealth countries are leaders of the agro-industrial complex,
representatives of the business community and science of all CIS
countries. They will focus on issues of ensuring food security,
possibilities for cooperation in the sphere of development and application
of innovation technologies in the production and processing of
agricultural produce, making special machinery and equipment, issues of
the rational use of water and biological resources.
A major delegation with CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev has
arrived for the agrarian forum in Ashgabat, First Vice Prime Minister
Viktor Zubkov heads the Russian delegation.
A joint meeting of the Council for Cooperation in the Agro-Industrial
Complex will be held within the forum's framework with the participation
of agriculture ministers, Council for Cooperation in the Veterinary Sphere
and the Intergovernmental Coordination Committee on seed breeding. It is
planned to hold an extensive exchange of views in order to work out the
strategy of the development of the agricultural sector at the regional
level. The forum participants are expected to determine priorities of
efficient interaction with the aim of ensuring food abundance on CIS
countries' markets.
According to Lebedev, "The importance and significance of the forum is
especially great for the settlement of issues of ensuring food security,
stimulation of growth of CIS states' national economies."
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.Second annual RF Pension Forum to be held in Moscow.

MOSCOW, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - The fulfilment of the new pension
legislation and important problems of the development of the pension
system are to be considered at the second annual Russian Pension Forum
that is opening in Moscow on Wednesday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin will take part in its work, the press service of the RF cabinet
reported.
Among the forum participants are members of the government, heads of
related ministries and departments, members of the Federation Council
(upper house of parliament) and State Duma (lower house), heads of state
and non-state pension funds and representatives of the business community.
"It is planned to discuss issues of enhancement of pension rights and
liquidation of poverty among pensioners, problems of the transition to
insurance principles of financing of labour pensions, as well as the
strategy of the development of non-state pension provision," the press
service said. "The main goal of enhancement of pension rights of citizens
is restoration of justice for aged persons who had the employment history
or most of its part during the Soviet period," it added.
The considerable work was done in 2009 for taking measures aimed at
raising the real level of pension support for all pensioners. The special
attention was given to the older generation whose pension rights were
infringed in the 1990s. Important laws were worked out and adopted aimed
at wider introduction in the pension system of insurance principles and at
its long-term balance. They fix the transfer of the pension's basic part
to insurance part, replacement of the unified social tax with direct
contributions for compulsory pension insurance, transition to quarterly
reporting on contributions and other mechanisms.
"All this creates prerequisites for bringing the pension support in
Russia to a qualitatively new level that will ensure pensions at the level
of European standards with the rate of replacement of wage with pension
not lower than 40 percent of the wage from which insurance payments were
made for at least 30 years," the press service explained.
The Russian Pension Forum is an expert venue where representatives of
the state, business, civil society and science discuss issues of the
development of pension legislation and further improvement of the pension
system.
The first Pension Forum was held on December 16, 2008 and gathered
about 300 participants. It publicly presented the guidelines of the
development of the pension system included in the Concept of the long-term
socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for a period up to
2020.
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.FC speaker to lay wreath at Russian soldiers monument in Pyongyang.

PYONGYANG, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - The second day of Russia's
Federation Council (upper house of parliament) speaker Sergei Mironov's
official visit to North Korea will begin with laying a wreath at the
monument to Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the liberation
of Korea. His Wednesday's programme also includes a meeting with Chairman
of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Yong-Nam, visiting of the "Russian
Centre" at the Pyongyang Institute of Foreign Languages and the country's
only Orthodox church.
On Tuesday, the FC speaker held talks with SPA Chairman Choe Thae Bok
and Premier Kim Yong-Il. The sides discussed issues of bilateral relations
and regional security problems. Sergei Mironov stressed that "only the
negotiating process and multilateral guarantees" can result in the
successful settlement of the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula.
Besides, the FC chairman and his North Korean colleague touched upon
the issue of the development of economic relations stressing the need to
intensify the mutual trade relations.
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