(This speech was delivered
during the 14th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and
Forestry in Bandung, The Republic of Indonesia, October 1992)
Bandung, Republic of Indonesia
October 8, 1991
Regional Cooperation
While several parts of the world are beset with various economic
problems, ASEAN member states have made tremendous progress as well as
strengthening and expanding regional cooperation.
In the face of increasing protectionism, ASEAN has, over the years,
made commendable progress to enhance the status of agriculture and forestry
through the formation of integrated economic communities and trade arrangements.
For this, credit must be accorded to COFAF and its subsidiary bodies.
Farmers adopting new technologies in agricultural production and the
growth of small and medium scale agro-forestry is testimony to the changing
face of the rural scene.
When our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr.Mahathir Mohamad took over the
reins of government 11 years ago, we decided then to put people before
production. In the past we have been more interested in rubber than rubber
tappers, more interested in rice production than in padi planters, and in cocoa
than the cultivators. We are changing to give more attention to the people than
produce.
Animal Prize
As such, we have Agro-Sport, and
Agro-Golf or Golf Tani. This has been introduced in the hope of fostering
better understanding and interaction between officers and private sector.
The first prize is usually nothing less than a buffalo, the sheep
being second and the rabbit, third. For wooden spoon, we have offered eighteen
gram eggs and for hole-in –one we
have offered a horse.
This is probably the first time in the history of golfing that animals
are involved.
Agro-Sports
We have brought sport to the farmers and in the process, discovered
that our fishermen have broken the National swimming record. In other words,
you could face a lot of problems in the next Asian games when we just might
enter our fishermen.
When I asked the victorious fishermen why they did not participate in
the national level swimming events, they merely said that they were not
invited.
Hence, we have learned not to ignore fisherman in mainstream national
sport activities. Now that we have agro-sport for farmers and fishermen, let us
hope in future we will have an ASEAN Farmers and Fishermen’s Sport Meet.
We have carried out a census to determine the number of musically
inclined farmers and fishermen in the country. From this exercise have emerged
a Farmer’s Symphony Orchestra.
We have also trained more than 30,000 rural women in international
cooking. This will, appreciably, broaden the gastronomic horizons of the rural
masses.
We in ASEAN have taken a balanced view of economic development, in
particular, the issue of poverty, improving the quality of rural life and
industrialization. We have succeeded in reducing this scourge to 17 percent
from 47 percent within 20 years. We are proud of this achievement and would
like to share it with you. We are now in the process of establishing with you.
We are now in the process of establishing WIPER—World Institute for Poverty Eradication.
Landscape
As for the quality of rural life, we have launched and have seen the
result of our national landscaping competition. We would like our farmers and
fishermen to live beautifully landscaped surroundings. From this we hope to
transform Malaysia into one huge garden within seven to ten years. If this is
also undertaken by other ASEAN states, the whole region will be turned into
veritable garden.
Our landscaping campaign comprises competitions for the best office
surroundings, best plantation setting, best landscaping within fishing villages,
most outstanding landscaping of farming areas and many more. To the
uninitiated, all these may sound rather eccentric, but it is working out well.
Poverty eradication, improving the quality of life and
industrialization are reflected in the relative peace and prosperity of farmers
who have benefited from the development projects.
Fisheries Sector
Several of the projects undertaken jointly with ASEAN member states
have enhanced the group’s individual development efforts. The ASEAN-EEC Aquaculture Development and the ASEAN-Canada Post-Harvest
Fisheries Technologies are example of such projects.
I am convinced that the ASEAN framework can play an important role in
forging closer collaboration in accelerating the development of the fisheries
sector within the region. I am also glad that the ASEAN Fishery Federation has
succeeded in establishing the ASEAN Restaurants in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur,
Singapore, Bangkok, And soon, the remaining capital cities.
When I first broached this idea many years ago, I did not mean seafood restaurants and did not mean
them to be set-up within the ASEAN region.
The idea was to get the ASEAN private sector to open restaurants in cities
where our national airlines coverage. We could have one such restaurant in Los
Angeles. The restaurants will serve as a goodwill ambassador for the ASEAN
region besides providing a cultural and, most important, a gastronomic insight
for Angelinos.
However, it is not easy to get the private sector to do this.
Probably, one feasible way is to start with the current practice of operating
ASEAN seafood restaurants that could provide spin-offs for setting up of a
chain of operation covering the capital cities of the world.
Diseases
In livestock, emphasis is on the upgrading of our ability to control
disease in the region. Topics such as the ASEAN Standards for Vaccines,
eradication of the Foot and Mouth Disease and the reinforcement of animal
quarantine stations are permanent issues discussed at the technical level. The
ASEAN poultry Disease Research and Training Center has made significant
contributions in this area.
Natural Resources
We are also aware of the need to preserve our natural resources and
quality of our environment as has been demonstrated by several forestry
projects such as the ASEAN Timber Technology Center, The ASEAN-Canada Tree Seed
Center and the ASEAN Institute of Forest Management.
Malaysia recognizes the important role of forest within the context of
the environment. However, as environmental issues transcend national interest,
we feel there is a need for a balanced perspective in addressing these issues.
Within this context, at the recent United
Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in
June 1992, Malaysia has endorsed and accepted the ‘Non-Legally-Binding
Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management,
Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests.’
Simultaneously, Malaysia became a signatory to the Convention on
Biological Diversity. Currently, efforts are being made in Malaysia to
facilitate the full implementation of the Convention.
To counter the Anti-Tropical
Timber Campaign waged by certain developed countries, a Malaysian
delegation led by the Minister of Primary Industries visited Sweden, the
Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. This was followed by a
joint mission of officials from Indonesia and Malaysia to Japan.
The Truth
I would like to suggest a similar mission to Austria, as our efforts
confirmed that these missions have helped to disseminate the truth about
forestry management and conservation in the region. Similarly, the move
recently by Austria against tropical timber must be addressed expeditiously. We
have to put a plug on this trend before it becomes endemic.
Over the years, COFAF has brought together the experience to plan and
implement its projects. With the Fourth ASEAN Summit’s decision to dissolve
COFAF and the other Economic Committees effectives January 1, 1993, an
appropriate mechanism has to be worked out to deploy the redundant officials in
matters that had previously come under the purview of COFAF.
ASEAN PLANTI
ASEAN has established a number of regional training institutions, and
their future financing is of concern to us. As an example, I would like to
refer to the ASEAN Plant Quarantine Center and Training Institute (PLANTI) that
from 1981, has trained about 2,000 Plant Quarantine Officers besides
undertaking valuable search.
Training
Following the cessation of USAID funding assistance to the center in June
1992, the training program had to be considerably curtailed. An ideal funding
mechanism has to be worked out for PLANTI as well as the other regional
training institutions affected for their continuation as ASEAN projects.
We have noted with interest and support the program whereby farmers from
countries facing food shortages are invited to Indonesia to live with the local
farmers and learn the farming skills that Indonesia has to offer. We believe
that this will go a long way and it is also in line with the idea of having a
Farmer’s Week and the fostering of closer people-to-people contact.
I have no idea what sort of support to be given but I believe it is
important we take note of this gracious gesture by Indonesia. I think it will
go a long way towards realizing the arms of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and
cooperation among developing countries.
Challenges
Even as ASEAN economies are progressing towards industrialized
economies, agriculture is expected to remain an important sector to contribute
not only in the form of primary produce but increasingly, as a supplier of raw
materials to the industrials sector in the manufacture of high- value added
products as well as generating more employment.
Competitiveness
This vision is expected to hold true in this decade and decades to
come. However, the agriculture sector in ASEAN will have to meet the challenges
that will become more apparent. The increasing trend towards protectionism,
inward-looking, trade-diverting regional and other trade arrangements by
ASEAN’s major trading partners and the development of new technology that renders
existing technology obsolete, compels the region’s agriculture sector to
urgently undertake measures to enhance competitiveness and modernization.
This is necessary if ASEAN’s share in the world market for agricultural
products is to be maintained.
The Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations under the General
Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) is in a state of paralysis. There
has been no substantial progress for the past one and a half year.
The importance of the Uruguay Round for all our economies needs no
elaboration. All efforts must be made to achieve a successful and balanced conclusion
in all areas, including agriculture. The Round must not be left to drift and
remain an academic undertaking. ASEAN, on its part, must continue to pay the
active role it has thus far made successful in all areas of the negotiations.
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