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ASEAN, India increase agriculture ties

The first meeting of ASEAN-India Ministers of Agriculture took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 8.
The first meeting of ASEAN-India Ministers of Agriculture took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 8.

Themeeting drew the participation of ASEAN Deputy Secretary GeneralSundram Pushpanathan, agriculture and forestry leaders from 10 membersof the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and IndianAgriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu led a Vietnamese delegation to the event.

Atthe meeting chaired by Indonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono and hisIndian counterpart, Sharad Pawar, delegates voiced their support toenhancing cooperation in the spirit of the Plan of Action to implementthe ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperityfor the 2010-2015 period that was adopted at the eighth ASEAN-IndiaSummit in Hanoi in October, 2010.

The leaders highlighted thesignificance of enhancing agro-forestry cooperation between ASEAN andIndia to cope with food security challenges, exchange of information andrelated technology, enhancement of farmers’ awareness and involvementin agro-forestry research and development projects and encouragement ofthe development of other industries relating to the agro-forestrysector.

The participants welcomed and supported the early implementation of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement.

Theysaid they hoped the two sides concluded the negotiation on the tradeservice and investment agreement within the framework of the ASEAN-IndiaFree Trade Area in which agricultural cooperation is considered a bigpotential for sustainable development in the region and for the interestof each country’s people.

The participants agreed to adopt themeeting’s joint statement, affirming their consensus on theestablishment of the ASEAN-India working group on agriculture to boostcooperation in agriculture and forestry between the two sides.
Theywelcomed activities to be carried out in the 2011-2012 period, includinglaunching the ASEAN-India agricultural information page, theASEAN-India friendship programme, organising seminars of agricultureuniversities’ rectors and adopting a medium-term action plan onagricultural cooperation between ASEAN and India for the 2011-2015period.

The ministers also asked the ASEAN-India working group onagriculture to present report on the implementation of the medium-termaction plan at the second meeting slated for 2012 in India./.
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