Hanoi  (VNA) – The 40th meeting of the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) opened inHanoi on October 11, with 23 plans of action and cooperation on the agenda.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh DinhDung of Vietnam, the current chair country of the AMAF, delivered the openingspeech at the meeting.

Deputy PM Dung underlined thekey role of agriculture in socio-political and economic stability of eachmember country of ASEAN and the bloc’s partners in the region.

Reality shows that for mostASEAN countries, agriculture is the base of the economy which helps themovercome fluctuations and crisis, contributing to ensuring food security andsustainable development, he said, stressing that cooperation in agriculture,forestry has always been a key content of the ASEAN Economic Community.  

At the same time, agriculture isalso a vulnerable sector facing numerous risks, he said, noting that the agriculturalsector of Vietnam as well as of other countries in the region is facing fiercecompetition with other economic sectors in resources, especially labour, landand water sources.  

Other challenges for the region’sagriculture include declining productivity and growth, the gap between ruraland urban areas and especially impacts of climate change.

Deputy PM Dung laid emphasis onthe complicated and unpredictable climate change, which is threatening foodsecurity and sustainable development of each country, citing examples such asthe recent earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia which claimed thousands of livesand left severe long-term consequences.

He took the occasion to proposeusing available mechanisms of the ASEAN such as the ASEAN Plus Three EmergencyRice Reserve (APTERR) to provide timely support to victims of the twindisaster.

Mentioning the Fourth IndustrialRevolution (4IR), Deputy PM Dung called on the ASEAN Economic Community toadopt practical measures to seize opportunities and bring the ASEAN’sagriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors forward to catch up with developednations. He noted that ASEAN member countries should pay attention to theapplication of 4IR technology to commercial agricultural production.

The Deputy PM said as an activemember of the ASEAN Community, Vietnam attaches importance to regionalcooperation and will continue to make feasible initiatives to enhance theeffectiveness of ASEAN cooperation for the sustainable development of agriculture.

The 40th AMAF meetingis scheduled to approve strategies, policies and guidelines for the region’s agriculture,forestry and fisheries, and propose initiatives on cooperation with partnercountries and international organisations with a view to realising targets ofthe ASEAN Vision to 2025 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals to 2030.

Vietnam’s Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said ASEAN countries havefavourable conditions to form supply and value chains for farm produce andfood. However, the gap in production level, resources and technology among themis hindering the common development, requiring member countries to work togetherto seek optimal solutions to achieve a green agriculture and inclusive andsustainable development for their agriculture and rural areas.-VNA