Khon Kaen / August 15, 2022: Supported by the Department of International Cooperation (DIC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), P.R.C., the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (FECC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, P.R.C., and Mekong Institute (MI) jointly organized a training workshop on “Lancang-Mekong Agro-Products Quality and Safety Inspection and Testing” from 15 – 19 August 2022. The aim is to increase the understanding on international agro-products quality and safety standards system; enhance the knowledge and technical capacity on agricultural certification, inspection, testing, and traceability; and establish an informal network for the promotion and development of food safety standards in the region.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Wang Xianzhong, Chief Expert, FECC, highlighted the importance of agriculture sector as one of the priority areas in the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC). He said that agro-product quality and safety has always been highly valued. Thus, to better implement and further deepen LMC, this training workshop was launched to improve the quality and promote agriculture and trade and is also one of the important activities to expand the cooperation to agro-products quality and safety standards and capacity building in the LMC region.
Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, Executive Director, MI, further emphasized the importance of food safety and food quality assurance to the agriculture sector, as well as the window of opportunity to look beyond the agriculture sector. He said MI is keen to provide further support in the area of climate and sustainable agriculture production systems, promote value chain across Lancang-Mekong countries and explore ways where farmers’ resilience to agriculture can be enhanced.
The five-day training-workshop is attended by over 100 participants, including government officials from the departments of agriculture, agricultural extension, and agro-industry in Cambodia, P.R. China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as representatives from agricultural academies, research institutes, agro-product quality and safety inspection and testing agencies and enterprises. Besides a series of presentation by experts, field visits are scheduled to GAP Testing Facilities and to a GAP certified mango farm.
This training-workshop is a blended online and onsite activity with 20 participants at the Mekong Institute, while over 100 participants joined via Zoom conference.
