08 Mar 2019
Source: ASEAN Secretariat
BANGKOK, 4 March 2019 - The ASEAN Farmers’ Organisation Support Program (AFOSP) organised a workshop on ASEAN Roadmap for Enhancing the Role of Agriculture Cooperatives in the Global Value Chain 2018-2025 in Bangkok on 28 February. The workshop aimed to translate the roadmap into a work plan that can harmonise the national cooperatives development which is expected be in harmony with the roadmap’s four pillars, namely institutional and capacity building, competitiveness, access to finance, and access to market.
The workshop was attended by representatives from the ASEAN Sectoral Working Group Agricultural Cooperative (ASWGAC), development agencies, private sector and representatives of farmers’ organisations under the Medium-Term Cooperation Programme with Farmers’ Organizations in Asia and the Pacific Phase 2 supported by European Union and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
ASEAN Centre for the Development of Agricultural Cooperative (ACEDAC) Secretariat opened the workshop by presenting the ASEAN Policy Framework in Agricultural Cooperative Development. ASWGAC representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand also presented their National Agriculture Cooperative Development Strategy.
Fiter Beresman S, a representative from ACEDAC Secretariat expressed appreciation for the active participation various stakeholders. He said, “it was a fruitful workshop where we shared the best way to contribute to the Roadmap and have synergy for collaborative works among stakeholders at the national and regional levels.”
Participants discussed about institutional/capacity development, access to finance for investments, working capital markets, competitiveness and access to market.
The workshop was a continuation of the 8th ASEAN Cooperative Business Forum 2019, with the aim to establish and increase concrete cooperation among cooperatives, public-private sector, and development partners in ASEAN, leading to sustainable development for the benefit of cooperative members. The implementation of the workshop on ASEAN Roadmap is expected to become a forum to increase ASEAN agricultural cooperatives’ cooperation and enhanced their participation in global value chain.
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