Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan and South Korea
pledged on Friday to further strengthen their cooperation in
agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
In a joint press statement issued at the end of the 4th ASEAN
Agriculture and Forestry Ministers (AMAF)+3 meeting in Yangon, the
ministers expressed satisfaction with the growing cooperation in
the sectors carried out between ASEAN and the three East Asian
partners, welcoming new cooperation in the next two years.
Sources at the Chinese delegation said ASEAN ministers spoke
highly of China's cooperation with the regional grouping in the
sectors, appraising the achievements made in the move and citing
benefits reaped from Chinese provision of agricultural technique
with respect to maize and paddy hybrids.
In the statement, the ASEAN+3 ministers stressed the need to
conserve the natural environment, preserve the social and cultural
traditions of rural communities, while promoting a sustainable
development in the sectors.
Welcoming the commencement of the three-year pilot project of
the East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve earlier this year, the
ministers reaffirmed the importance of such establishment to
strengthen food security and address poverty alleviation in the
East Asia region, encouraging each country to actively contribute
on a voluntary basis to the project, according to the
statement.
The ministers expressed the support for the formulation of the
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or bird flu task force to
coordinate the control and eradication of the influenza, which is
affecting the public health, poultry production and economy in the
region, it said.
Viewing that deforestation and degradation of forests in the
region still remains a critical problem, the ministers reiterated
the need for effective collaboration to enhance sustainable forest
management in the region, the statement added.
The ministers agreed that the 5th AMAF+3 meeting will be held in
the Philippines next year.
The AMAF+3 meeting was preceded a day by the AMAF meeting.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2004)