The 8th Meeting of the GTI Agriculture Committee, co-organized by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MOFALI) of Mongolia and the GTI Secretariat, was held on 16 May 2024, by video conference. The meeting was attended by Ms. Liu Jiang, Director of the Division of Asian and African Affairs, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of People’s Republic of China; Mr. Yong-ho JUNG, Director of the General Division of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) of Republic of Korea; Mr. Gabriel MOSHLYAK, Head of the Division of International Organizations Department of International Cooperation and Agricultural Export Development of Ministry of Agriculture of Russian Federation; and Mr. ANAR Enkhbold, Director of the Division of International Cooperation Department of Policy and Planning of MOFALI, Mongolia. During the meeting, members reviewed the progress of the Committee’s work since 2022 and approved next year’s work plan while discussing new joint project activities proposed by member states.
During the main session of the meeting, members shared their country policy on export and market of livestock products. While Mongolia’s presentation focused on the opportunities for the export of livestock products in an international market emphasizing the uniqueness of truly Mongolian organic products, the Korean side explained that they hope to transition to a more eco-friendly livestock industry to build more sustainable smart livestock farming which includes creation of a smart farm big data platform as well as an establishment of measures to stabilize management of livestock farms. On the other hand, Chinese side highlighted their current situation of animal husbandry and stated that the supervision of the whole industry chain has been continuously strengthened, and quality and safety of products have been maintained a historically high level. Whereas, Russian side called for joint efforts to prevent the spread of various infectious animal diseases and that it is vital to maintain a dialogue between our supervisory agencies in order to control compliance with the relevant requirements and monitor the episodic situation in the region. To conclude, Russian colleague emphasized that GTI member countries have a significant potential to increasing mutual trade in livestock products and this cooperation indeed fully meets the main objective of the GTI, which is to strengthen the attractiveness of Northeast Asia, international investment, trade and business in order to achieve sustainable socio-economic development of the region and the true food security.
Furthermore, in order to enhance cooperation in the Greater Tumen Region, China proposed a new collaboration project “GTI Rural Youth Entrepreneurship Promotion Project”. The primary aim of this project is to ignite the entrepreneurship spirit and in the vision capabilities of rural entrepreneurs, foster innovative rural economic development and enhance farmers employment opportunities and the quality of life. On the other hand, the key objectives include the exchange of knowledge and experiences in effectively promoting rural entrepreneurship development, sharing best practice, primarily focused on young entrepreneurs and enhancing their capabilities to engage in rural entrepreneurship.
As the next chair, Republic of Korea will host the 9th Agriculture Committee Meeting in 2025.