Second Annual Joint Project Steering Committee Meeting of the FAO- China Triangular Cooperation Project with the Netherlands
26 July 2022 Rome/Amsterdam/Beijing—The second annual Joint Project Steering Committee (JPSC) meeting of the project “Up-scaling the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Programme through triangular cooperation with the government of the Netherlands (Part I)” was successfully organized by the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division (PST) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The virtual meeting brought together the two donors, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China (MARA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (MANF) of the Netherlands, and three implementation agencies from the two countries, to review progress in the implementation of the project during 2021/2022 and discuss the work plan for 2023/24 and other important issues.
In his opening remarks, Mr Xie Jianmin, Counsel of the Department of International Cooperation of MARA, recognised the fruitful collaboration between the governments of China, the Netherlands and FAO in the triangular cooperation project, and thanked the three implementing partners— the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (FECC) of MARA, Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of China (FFRC) and Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)— for their continued effort in advancing important aspects of the project. He acknowledged key results achieved so far, particularly the capacity building of FFRC and FEEC in research, international training and knowledge sharing through technical collaboration and exchanges with the WUR.
In his remarks, Mr Hans Brand, Policy Coordinator (FAO and Multilateral Cooperation) of MANF, noted the unprecedented challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic caused in the implementation of the project during 2020-2021, and thanked the three implementing partners for the remarkable progress in some key areas of the project despite these challenges. He also expressed the Netherlands’ readiness to initiate discussions on the second part of the project, which will focus on sustainable aquaculture value chain development in a developing country.
Mr Ye Anping, Director of PST, thanked the governments of China and the Netherlands for their generous contribution to the triangular cooperation project, and noted the setbacks in the project’s implementation due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented in-person and face-to-face meetings. He commended WUR, FECC and FFRC for delivering on key objectives of the project through virtual arrangements. Mr Ye underscored the need to take stock of the results achieved so far, including those remaining, so that the project can be on the right track to realize all objectives before its completion in June 2024.
The JPSC then reviewed progress in the implementation of the project in 2022 and discussed some key implementation issues as well as the preliminary work plan for 2023/24. One important agenda item discussed at the meeting was the development of a pilot project (part 2) following the completion of the current project (part 1) in 2024. The project was envisaged to focus on aquaculture in Ethiopia, and will draw on the strengthened capacities of FFRC and FECC during the first part of the project to deliver capacity building trainings and demonstrations focused on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) models and sustainable development of the aquaculture value chain in the host country.
During concluding discussions, all parties acknowledged the need to thoroughly plan and deliberate on the overall scope and area of focus, and to decide on the host country where the second part of the project will be piloted. The three implementing agencies were requested to conduct a feasibility study addressing these issues, and to submit a report to the next JPSC meeting, which is tentatively planned for January 2023.
