The discussion took place during the visit to SEARCA of a six-member delegation from Taiwan, led by Minister Bao-ji Chen of the COA of the Republic of China, on 3 December 2015 to meet on possible areas of cooperation. COA is the authority on agriculture, forestry, fishery, animal husbandry, and food affairs in Taiwan.
At the outset, Minister Bao-ji Chen said Taiwan's research institutes are very strong and trainees may come and learn from them. He added that Taiwan is strong on animal biotechnology and aquaculture research.
The Minister also recalled that NTU offered a course on agricultural biotechnology for four years and coordinated with SEARCA in inviting training participants. Moreover, NTU hosted a SEARCA scholar who conducted her PhD research for a year under a sandwich program arrangement.
Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., SEARCA Director, said Taiwan can tap SEARCA to link the country’s agriculture universities to members of the SEARCA-initiated Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC), and catalyze exchanges between Taiwanese organizations and those in Southeast Asia with COA and SEARCA as focal points.
Minister Bao-ji Chen said COA conducts international events with the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) yearly to which SEARCA can send participants. Dr. Saguiguit said SEARCA can also invite Taiwanese to its conferences and similar forums as resource persons or participants. Alternatively, COA and SEARCA can jointly organize knowledge events, undertake development of training programs, and conduct training activities.
In view of these common areas of interest, Dr. Saguiguit suggested the crafting of a memorandum of understanding between COA and SEARCA. A team from SEARCA will visit Taiwan in 2016 to discuss in detail the opportunities for collaboration.
The Minister was accompanied by Mr. James Chih-i Sha, Deputy Minister, COA; Ms. Ming-chuan Chung, Specialist at the Department of International Affairs, COA; Dr. Chih-wei Tung, Assistant Professor at the Department of Agronomy, National Taiwan University (NTU); Mr. Eric Chen, First Secretary, Embassy of Taiwan in the Philippines; and Mr. Ronald G. Mangubat, Information Officer, Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC). (Leah Lyn D. Domingo)