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Regions and Countries Regional Cooperation Greater Mekong Subregion GMS Updates Agriculture
GMS Sector Activities
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| YEAR | DATE | ACTIVITY |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 15-17 February | 3rd Meeting of GMS Working Group on Agriculture (WGA-3) |
| 2004 | October | Mekong Rice Conference |
| August | GMS Workshop on Aquaculture | |
| 22-23 March | Second Meeting of the Working Group on Agriculture Held in Chiang Mai, Thailand | |
| 2003 | November | GMS Workshop on Agriculture Biotechnology Held in Bangkok |
| November | Workshop on Agricultural Investment and Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion Convened in Kunming | |
| January | Agriculture Working Group Launched |
The 3rd Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Agriculture was held in Hue City, Viet Nam on 15-17 February 2006, jointly hosted by ADB and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. The theme of the Meeting was "Strengthening GMS Cross-border Collaboration in Agriculture." Over 70 participants, including 34 delegates from the six GMS countries, 27 representatives from 18 development partner agencies including multilateral and bilateral donors and international research organizations, the civil society sector, and ADB attended the Meeting.
The Meeting reviewed the progress of GMS cooperation in agriculture, particularly current initiatives on advanced agricultural science and technology, transboundary animal diseases (avian flu, foot and mouth disease, etc.), and the GMS Agriculture Information Network. New and emerging subregional issues and needs were also identified including cross-border agricultural trade issues related to food safety and harmonization of standards, rural renewable energy (biomass and biofuels), systems interoperability among information networks, monitoring and evaluation of project impacts, project ownership, as well as opportunities for resource mobilization through partnerships with development partners.
One major output of the Meeting was the agreement in principle on a draft GMS Strategic Framework for Subregional Cooperation in Agriculture and accompanying Core Agriculture Sector Program (CASP). The CASP situates current initiatives and proposed activities into 4 core programs, namely: Cross-border Agricultural Trade, GMS Knowledge Network, Capacity Building in Agriculture, and Emergency Response for Agricultural Crises. During the Meeting, representatives of development partners indicated their areas of interest and potential areas of collaboration. Another key output of WGA-3 was the agreement reached regarding the GMS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting, planned to be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China in mid-October 2006. A revised version of the Strategic Framework and CASP, incorporating comments made during WGA-3, will be endorsed to the GMS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting.
ADB provided funding support for the preparation of the draft GMS Strategic Framework for Subregional Cooperation in Agriculture and the holding of WGA-3.
Read the executive summary [ PDF: 33kb | 5 pages ]
View the proceedings of the WGA-3 meeting. [ PDF: 88.1kb | 22 pages ]
The Second Meeting of the Working Group on Agriculture (WGA-2) was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on 22-23 March 2004 to discuss the development and promotion of knowledge management and exchange (the theme of the meeting), and to discuss other issues of regional cooperation and potential areas of cooperation under the umbrella of the WGA. The Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Economics of Thaland and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), co-hosted the meeting.
On knowledge management and exchange, the participants agreed that the WGA could provide a platform for information sharing and PRC offered to help establish a WGA website for regional sharing of sector information. On future priorities and work program of the WGA, the participants agreed on the need to coordinate efforts with other regional and bilateral initiatives such as those of ASEAN and MRC. Priority areas identified for WGA cooperation included:
There was consensus to prioritize food safety and sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards issues. Also considered important by the WGA were capacity building in technology, livestock disease control, and rural energy/ecological waste management.
Read the executive summary [ PDF: 84kb | 3 pages ]
View the proceedings of the WGA-2 meeting. [ PDF: 613kb | 34 pages ]
The workshop, which was held in Bangkok on 24 November 2003, was organized to determine the regional priorities and opportunities for cooperation in agriculture biotechnology development and its application. It followed a desk review covering all GMS countries, and national workshops in selected GMS countries on the current status and priorities for agriculture development. Representatives from all the GMS countries attended the meeting.
All countries identified awareness raising of the benefits and risks in adopting agriculture biotechnology as a priority. Another was the development of sound agriculture biotechnology policy mechanism in each country, and harmonized and enforceable regulatory frameworks and mechanisms for the region. Private sector participation and investment was considered vital in sustained technology development, adaptation, and application. In this regard, appropriate policies are necessary to stimulate and support private sector involvement. Given the varied capacity and limited basic infrastructure in some GMS countries, the opportunity for regional cooperation in this area was identified.
Final report is expected to be available in January 2004.
The Workshop, which was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, was organized to promote dialogue and regional cooperation in agricultural investment, trade, and technology. It focused on three areas:
The Workshop was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, PRC and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Participants included Government Officials from GMS countries, representatives from the private sector and civil society, and ADB staff and consultants. Mr. Fan Xiaojian, Vice Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, PRC opened the workshop.
Discussion on a range of topics related to agricultural investment and cooperation in the GMS took place. Common themes that emerged in the two-day workshop included the importance of regional cooperation, significance of public-private partnerships, and technology as a key ingredient to increase agricultural productivity. On regional cooperation, it was recognized that global factors such as new competition to access European and North American markets, the stall in Doha round and WTO negotiations, agricultural subsidies and consumer protection measures is increasing the importance of regional cooperation in trade and investment for continued development at the agriculture sector to benefit the rural people in the region.
Regarding public-private partnerships, private sector investment was considered critical to shifting agricultural production to the next level. Participants noted that the private sector is bringing substantial resources to modernizing agricultural production. To strengthen the public-private partnerships, suggestions were made to create a more enabling environment such as further improvement of infrastructure, simplifying the investment and trade regulatory environment, and strengthening the framework to protect product rights and knowledge.
Concerning technology, participants that with careful consideration of the technological options and their application, quality and quantity of agricultural production may be improved in an environmentally sustainable manner. In this regard, it was recommended that further GMS cooperation in technological exchange should take place.
The GMS Working Group on Agriculture (WGA) held its first meeting at the ADB Headquarters in Manila, Philippines on 20-21 January 2003 to agree on a framework and priority activities for cooperation. GMS senior agriculture officials and several international and regional organizations participated in this inaugural event.
In his keynote address, Mr. Rajat Nag, Director General of the Mekong Department, stressed the important role of agriculture in poverty reduction and economic growth in the Mekong region, and invited the GMS countries to address the challenges facing the sector through greater regional cooperation.
The WGA agreed on a mission statement that it would "help reduce poverty through partnerships with rural communities to promote agriculture trade, food security, and sustainable livelihoods". The strategic focus of the WGA would be on market and market institutions; transfer of know-how, experiences and technology; and public-private sector partnerships in four sub-sectors namely, crops, livestock, fisheries, and forest and water resources.
Fourteen project concepts in these strategic areas were discussed by the WGA and will be further developed into full-scale proposals to mobilize funding support. The GMS countries gave high priority to projects involving livestock health, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, gender-targeted extension services, information technology for agriculture, post harvest management, fish industry statistics, rural aquaculture, and cross-border supply chain management. ADB indicated that it would take efforts to generate resources for these activities in cooperation with development partners and provide technical assistance to support the process of dialogue and promote information flows among GMS senior agriculture officials in priority areas of cooperation.
Participating organizations in the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), the ASEAN Secretariat and other international and regional organizations provided useful information on their respective activities in agriculture in the GMS.
The WGA brings to nine, the number of working groups and forums under the GMS Program—the other eight are in priority sectors of transport, telecommunications, energy, tourism, environment, human resources development, trade, and investment.
View the Entire Proceedings of WGA-1 [ PDF: 113kb | 10 pages ]
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