Contact: Office of Communications (202) 720-4623
M/A No. 4001.10
UPDATED: AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK, USAID ADMINISTATOR SHAH AND SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN RICHARD HOLBROOKE TO HOLD SPECIAL BRIEFING
*** Please note additional participants and new instructions for media***
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2010 -- President Obama has identified restoring Afghanistan's once vibrant agriculture sector as the top U.S. government reconstruction priority. Agriculture is the main source of income and livelihood for a majority of the population, especially in rural areas. Eighty percent of the people are involved in farming, herding or both, and a strengthened agricultural sector can be an engine for economic growth and improved stability.
The State Department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and several other agencies are working in close coordination under the U.S. Government Agriculture Assistance Strategy for Afghanistan - the framework for advancing this effort.
Secretary Tom Vilsack, Administrator Rajiv Shah and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke will brief the press on these efforts and on their respective, upcoming travel to the region on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at 4:15 p.m. in the press briefing room at the Department of State.
WHO:
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke
WHAT:
Special Press Briefing
WHEN:
January 7, 2010
4:15 p.m. - Briefing commences
WHERE:
U.S. Department of State
Carl T. Rowan Press Briefing Room (Room 2209)
Washington, DC 20520
MEDIA: Credentialed members of the media should use the 23rd Street entrance to the State Department and must be processed through security by 4:00 p.m. Media representatives may attend this event upon presentation of one of the following: (1) a U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver's license, passport). For additional information, please contact the Office of Press Relations, U.S. Department of State, at (202) 647-2492.
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