The 21st East Asia Forum was successfully held in Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, the People’s Republic of China (P.R. China) on 29 October 2023. The forum was hosted by Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, P.R. China and was participated by distinguished delegates from the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) countries, Timor-Leste and related organisations: ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) Secretariat.
H.E. Wang Hao, Vice-Governor of Yunnan Province gave a welcome remark to the delegates at the meeting under the theme of ‘Joining Hands to Create New Development Opportunities’. Regarding the theme, many distinguished delegates from various organisations delivered their keynote speech, including H.E. Nong Rong, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of P.R. China, H.E Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro, ASEAN SOM Leader, Director General of ASEAN-Indonesia of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, H.E.Kung Phoak, Secretary of State of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, ASEAN SOM Leader, Cambodia, H.E. Vu Ho, Acting ASEAN SOM Leader, Director General of ASEAN-Viet Nam , Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Viet Nam, H.E. Byung Won Chung, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Mr. Hayashi Makoto, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, H.E. R.M. Michael Tene, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Political and Security Community of ASEAN Secretariat, and Mr. Li Kou Qing, Director of AMRO.
Dr. Choomjet Karnjanakesorn presented the role of APTERR in the food security
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, P.R. China invited Dr. Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, General Manager (GM) of the APTERR to present APTERR organisation and its activity to the forum under the topic of ‘Enhancing Regional Resilience in Crises: Preparedness and Institutional Buildup–Promoting Food Security’ as one of the key mechanisms in response to emergency requirement during the time of disaster contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
GM of APTERR Secretariat was explaining the APTERR’s achievements in the past ten years.
During the session, the Yunnan province media interviewed GM on the Emergency Rice Reserve and the 6,199 MT of rice assistance in 2023 which is 3,699 MT of rice for the pre-positions in Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Myanmar, and 2,500 MT for urgent requests from Myanmar due to the Super Cyclone Mocha.
Field trip in Yuxi, Yunnan, P.R. China
On 30 October 2023, the APTERR Secretariat team participate in field trip at Mafang Village which is in Rural Revitalization Project and Chengjiang Fossil Site World Natural Heritage Museum (Yunnan Provincial Natural Museum). The trip was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of P.R. China as part of the 21st East Asia Forum (EAF) which was held during 28-30 October 2023.
The APTERR team was willing to take note on the information of both sites, especially the Mafang Village due to the fact that it was built as a model village for the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, forming a modern ecological agriculture integrating the country sightseeing, leisure manor, research institute, wetland and conservation belt. It was also the result of the promoting integration between rural revitalization and poverty alleviation, around 273 households with 856 people had successfully relocated from area along the Fuxian Lakr to the Magang Village. Currently, there are 49 home-stays and many restaurants operated by the local villagers, helping them reduce the rate of poverty,
