The six ministers of Cambodia, China’s Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam have since 1992 been working together under the GMS Economic Co-operation Programme initiated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). . Urooj Malik, director of ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, said that agriculture must aim toward a more prosperous yet socially equitable sector, in which the full benefits of the "new agriculture" are shared by the poor. Changes in the area have resulted in a range of new issues for the countries to address such as the possible effects on national and subregional food security on the rural poor because of the switch from food to bio-energy crops. New animal and crop disease risks are becoming prominent, especially with the recent outbreaks of avian influenza in some countries of the subregion. To deal with these issues, the countries must increase their capacities in science and technology as well as create new policies and regulations and food safety standards, the ADB said. Over the past few years, an advisory body to the subregion’s agriculture ministers, the Working Group on Agriculture, has co-ordinated with a variety of stakeholders to create the Core Agriculture Support Programme. These stakeholders include government and donor agencies as well as international and regional research and development organisations, non-government organisations and civil society. The programme focuses on cross-border issues to encourage cross-border trade and investment in agriculture while contributing to food security and poverty reduction and ensuring the protection of the environment and sustainable use of natural resources. Included also are the use of advanced agricultural science and technology in biosafety and biotechnology areas, policy and investment co-operation in biofuels and rural renewable energy, and the establishment of emergency response systems for agriculture-related crises. The ministers’ meeting was preceded by a meeting on Sunday of senior agriculture officials from the six countries to finalise the framework for the cooperation programme agreement. —VNS |