The Village Chiefs Forum under the Lancang-Mekong Agricultural Cooperation framework was held successfully in Mengla County of Yunnan Province, China on 11 April 2017. Mr. Bi Meijia, Member of the CPC Leading Group and Director General of the Department of Personnel and Labor of the MOA attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the Forum.
Mr. Bi Meijia stated that the Forum represents an important innovation in international cooperation in agriculture and a specific measure to consolidate pragmatic agricultural cooperation among China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. It is of great significance to boosting rural development and benefiting local farmers within the region.
He stressed that the five countries are friendly neighbors sharing the same river, and agriculture cooperation has always been a priority for regional cooperation. In recent years, the MOA has effectively strengthened cooperation with regional countries with improved cooperation mechanisms, intensified technical cooperation and fast-growing economic and trade cooperation. All these have boosted the rural economy, farmers' employment and income growth in the region.
To intensify communication among village chiefs and agricultural cooperation within the region, Mr. Bi suggested that favorable conditions be created to enable village chiefs to engage in international cooperation in agriculture, agricultural technology training be tailored for village chiefs of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, communication platform for village chiefs be created, regional agricultural cooperation in various forms be increased to better serve agriculture, rural community and farmers.
At the forum, a total of 8 cooperation agreements were inked between 11 enterprises and villages in the region, covering vegetable production, coffee production and processing, demonstration on high-yield rice production, agricultural technology services, agri-tourism and other fields.
The Forum was hosted jointly by the MOA Department of International Cooperation, Yunnan Provincial Department of Agriculture and the People's Government of the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, and was organized by the China Agricultural Association for International Exchange. Nearly 100 participants attended the Forum, representing village chiefs, businessmen and government officials from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.