On December 14-15, 2022, the Council of Agriculture (COA) participated in the 17^th General Assembly Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutes (APAARI) via video conference. The Meeting was attended by representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Taiwan successfully  re-elected to the Executive Committee, and will pro-actively cooperate with all member countries to continue to make contributions to agricultural research and technological development in the Asia-Pacific region.

The COA notes that it has been over 30 years since the founding of APAARI in 1990, which is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. Taiwan formally joined the organization in 1999, and presently participates with membership as Taiwan. Starting in 2017, Taiwan was elected to the Executive Committee for three consecutive terms covering six years, participating extensively in APAARI’s organizational operations. In addition, in order to deepen collaboration with APAARI, Taiwan has been providing funding to its Asia-Pacific Consortium on Biotechnology and Bioresources (APCoAB)since 2018, and working with other members to collectively promote the use and development of biotechnology and genetic resources in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the APAARI constitution, a member can only serve on the Executive Committee for three consecutive terms, and given that Taiwan has served three full terms since 2017, under the rules it should not be able to continue as a member of that Committee. However, at the General Assembly Meeting, APAARI’s members, taking into account Taiwan’s contributions to the organization, unanimously supported Taiwan’s continued membership on the Executive Committee in 2023 and 2024 as a “member representing donor/funding agencies/organizations.” This demonstrates their high level of appreciation of Taiwan and their hopes that Taiwan will continue to participate in the operations of the Executive Committee.