(Item 8 of the Agenda)
(Item 8a of the Agenda)
104. The Head of Malaysian delegation offered to host the Twenty-second Session of the Commission scheduled to be held in 2008. The Commission welcomed the invitation by acclamation and conveyed its thanks to the Government of Malaysia for the proposal. It requested the Commission Secretariat to pursue the matter with relevant authorities.
(Item 8b of the Agenda)
105. The Secretary of the Commission informed the delegates about the Fourth International Conference on Agricultural Statistics (ICAS-IV), which would take place from 23_25 October 2007 at the Friendship Hotel in Beijing, China. He also informed that the ICAS-IV would be hosted by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China. The Scientific Programme Committee was chaired by FAO. He made the delegates aware of the nature of the Conference and encouraged them to participate in the Conference for their better integration with the international statistical system. The Chinese delegation also welcomed all delegates to attend this Conference.
106. The observer from Timor-Leste expressed his appreciation of this meeting which provided him an opportunity to learn from experiences of other countries in the Asia and Pacific Region in compiling agricultural statistics. He informed that Timor-Leste, which achieved independence in 2002, was currently working to set up an adequate statistical system for the country. He added that the first Population Census which was conducted in 2002, included two questions relating to agriculture. The purpose of these questions was to identify the households engaged in crop or livestock production. He wished that the FAO could provide his country more assistance.
107. The Host Government, Thailand, arranged a field visit for the delegates to Phuket Abalone Farm, which was the first commercial abalone farm in Thailand, located in Koh Sirey, a small island near Phuket town. This was followed by an observation tour to Phuket Marine Biological Centre under the jurisdition of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, located at Muang District, Phuket Province.
