JAKARTA, 2 February 2023 – Today, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) organised a joint virtual workshop on food security to foster policy dialogue on the issue between both party’s member countries and secretariats.
In their opening remarks, Dr. Marion Jansen, Director of the OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate and Dr. Pham Quang Minh, Head of the Food, Agriculture and Forestry Division of the ASEAN Economic Community Department, highlighted the value of the memorandum of understanding between the two organisations and the importance of understanding the food security and policy issues facing the Southeast Asia region.
Through this workshop, ASEAN and the OECD hope to support the region’s priorities for food security and to continue the co-operation between the two organisations. The workshop is part of a wider project between the OECD and ASEAN that aims to discuss priorities and key challenges related to food security in the ASEAN region, encourage co-operation in data collection, continue policy analysis and reporting activities planned for the ASEAN region, and develop a network that can sustain a long-term policy dialogue between OECD and ASEAN.
The workshop discussed how best to monitor and evaluate trade and domestic policies and markets for agriculture; prospects for agricultural commodity and fish markets at national, regional and global level; how countries can improve border procedures and reduce trade costs; efforts to reform government support to fisheries; and the best practices to improve fish stock health and fisheries management.
The OECD has a long history of providing information, analysis, and advice to help governments improve the domestic and international performance of their farm, food, and fisheries policies. They highlight areas such as agricultural trade, food security, sustainable agriculture, agricultural innovation systems and risk management. The organisation has worked bilaterally with some individual members of ASEAN in food and agriculture including Indonesia, Viet Nam, and the Philippines.
In ASEAN, various programmes to support sustainable development in the agricultural sector have been initiated and implemented. For instance, the ASEAN Guidelines on Sustainable Agriculture were adopted for implementation by the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry in 2022. The Action Plan for the ASEAN Guidelines will be developed in 2023 with a focus on circular agriculture and reduction of harmful chemicals in agricultural production.
ASEAN looks forward to further promoting the implementation of regional initiatives in the food and agriculture sectors which cover food security, food safety, nature-based solutions, reduced use of harmful agrochemicals in food production, and decarbonisation.
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