Today (August 21), the grand flag presentation ceremony for the 2024 Young Agricultural Ambassadors New Southbound Policy Exchange Program was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang delivered the opening remarks, encouraging the Young Agricultural Ambassadors to strive collectively to enhance international agricultural interactions and cooperation. Representative Narong Boonsatheanwong of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office (Taipei) and Representative Aznifah Isnariah Binti Abdul Ghani of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre, Taipei were invited to speak at the event, while staff from the Office of Trade Negotiations and the Ministry of Agriculture also participated. The two carefully selected groups, totaling 24 Young Agricultural Ambassadors,will make visits to Thailand and Malaysia, respectively, from August 26 to September 1. As the fifth delegations of this kind, they are writing a new chapter in the story of Taiwan’s agricultural diplomacy and the New Southbound Policy.

The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) states that since the MOA and MOFA started the Young Agricultural Ambassadors program in 2017, so far 114 outstanding young farmers and students have been selected to go to countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and others to engage in on-site agricultural interactions . After returning to Taiwan, many of the ambassadors remain in touch with young farmers in New Southbound Policy partner countries and work together to promote sustainable agricultural development and cooperation. The MOA and MOFA have continually promoted this program to enable the younger generation to build an overseas foundation for their futures in agriculture and to enable the diversified creativity of youth to develop internationally.

These fifth groups of Young Agricultural Ambassadors are about to head off to Thailand and Malaysia. The MOA says that Taiwan and these two countries have established longstanding and positive cooperative partnership relations in the field of agriculture, and through bilateral agricultural cooperation conferences and dialogue have continued to exchange views on many issues including adaptation measures for climate change and food security, upgrading and creating synergy in the horticulture and flower industry, livestock management, biological disease prevention, and development of agricultural machinery. Meanwhile, agricultural adjustment strategies, including those for the circular economy and value-added use of residual agricultural resources as well a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, will be focal points of future cooperation. This overseas trip will be energized by bilateral interactions between agricultural youth and students. Besides acting as a platform for deepening dialogue on transnational public-private collaboration, it is hoped that these visits will promote bilateral synergy in industries related to net-zero emissions and food production. Even more, it is anticipated that through these visits, there will be greater understanding of investment and market trends in Thailand and Malaysia as well as business matchmaking opportunities to further develop the potential market for cooperation and seek a mutually beneficial production-and-marketing collaboration model.

The MOA relates that the two groups of Young Agricultural Ambassadors will visit numerous locations and people, including relevant government agencies, Taiwanese business people, academic and research institutions, farmers, agribusinesses, and agriproduct wholesale sales venues. It is hoped that through on-site visits by Young Agricultural Ambassadors, young farmers in Thailand and Malaysia will gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s agricultural capabilities. The MOA hopes that young farmers from the three countries (Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia), influenced by the new trend of digitalized development, will emerge from their exchanges with a new sense of mission and new thinking about agricultural development to collectively promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the agricultural development of New Southbound Policy partner countries, and go a step further and build opportunities for mutual benefit to promote the collective prosperity of regional agriculture and its sustainable development among Asian countries.