1. The Second Provisional Governing Council (PGC) Meeting of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia (NACA) was hosted by the Government of Thailand and was held at the FAO Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand on 12–15 January 1988.
2. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of all the participating governments except Singapore. Also present were the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre, the International Development Research Centre, the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management, and other UNDP/FAO projects, as well as observers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Bhutan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and the Republic of Korea. The list of participants appears as Annex I.
3. The Opening Ceremony was held in the Conference Room of the FAO Regional Office in Bangkok at 0900 hours on 12 January 1988, with the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, General Harn Leenanond, as Keynote Speaker. Representatives of the diplomatic corps were also present.
4. The delegates were welcomed to the Meeting by the FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, Mr. S.S. Puri, who noted that aquaculture will continue to play a major role in the region, demonstrating a tremendous potential in food production in Asia, which accounts for 83 per cent of the world's aquaculture production. In this connection, he was happy to note the endeavor of the Member Governments in institutionalizing NACA during the previous week as a permanent body, to play a further major role in aquaculture development in the region. He reiterated that FAO was glad to be associated with the Project.
5. Mr. Chen Foo Yan, Coordinator, on behalf of FAO and NACA, welcomed the delegates and guests. While tracing the evolution and transition of NACA Project from a UNDP/FAO project into an inter-governmental organization (once the Agreement for its formation has been signed by the requisite number of Governments), he pointed out that the stage is now set for NACA to take off as, in the words of the Director-General of FAO, “a wholly Asian activity.” He said that this was made possible only by the tripartite partnership of the Member Governments, UNDP and FAO. He mentioned the crucial role played by former ADCP Programme Leader, Dr. T.V.R. Pillay, who was instrumental in the formulation of NACA and vigorous in his support of the Project.
6. Mr. Chen acknowledged the role of the Member Governments in fostering the activities of NACA and in demonstrating the practical reality of the TCDC principle by sharing their facilities, resources and expertise, and in contributing funds for NACA activities.
7. All the NACA lead centres are well established and are now regarded as regional and international assets, he said, adding that there has been an increasing interest by other agencies and organizations in collaborating with these centres, which would further strengthen them for their roles in assisting the region in the development of aquaculture.
8. Mr. Chen referred to another major event which, he said, would further stimulate the expansion of aquaculture development: the possible support for aquaculture research by the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR). Attempts to attract the support of the CGIAR had not been successful due to the wide variety of cultured species and farming systems, and the different national and regional priorities. Therefore, he urged the Member Governments to consider the higher objective of aquaculture development in the region, avoid the pitfalls of technicalities and institutional vested interests, in order that a conducive environmental may be created to attract CGIAR's interest to invest in aquaculture research and establish an international research centre for aquaculture in Asia.
9. NACA will be playing an important role in contributing to the efforts of CGIAR in the global development of aquaculture, Mr. Chen added. The complete text of the Coordinator's address appears as Annex II.
10. Representing the Director-General of Fisheries of Thailand, the Deputy Director-General, Mrs. Bung-orn Saisithi, welcomed the participants while mentioning the results of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Adoption of an Agreement on NACA which was held the previous week. She remarked that this was yet another landmark in the history of NACA. The Project has set one of the best examples of TCDC and demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of tackling regional problems in developing countries through the sharing of responsibilities and pooling of resources. She expressed the hope that the donor agencies will continue to provide further support to strengthen the endeavor of all the Member-Governments in achieving the larger objectives of NACA. The text of the Deputy Director-General's speech appears as Annex III.
11. On behalf of the UNDP Regional Representative in Bangkok, Mr. F. Ossella expressed his pleasure at witnessing the UNDP/FAO project's culmination into an inter-governmental Organization. UNDP's continuing support for NACA has been motivated by awareness of the great potential of fish farming in improving the livelihood of the rural and coastal people. The establishment of NACA as an inter-governmental organization was welcomed with great enthusiasm, as it will allow the setting up of permanent links among the various institutions of the Member Countries, thus accelerating the exchange of knowledge and the pace of research and development.
12. UNDP was pleased to have been associated in the development of NACA since the beginning. The Project, Mr. Ossella felt, had been very successful and UNDP looks forward to its continued development and to an even greater collaboration among countries. The full text of Mr. Ossella's speech is in Annex IV.
13. Mr. Michael B. New, of FAO Headquarters/Rome, reiterated the statement made by Mr. N. Kojima on behalf of the Director-General of FAO at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Adoption of the NACA Agreement (5–8 January 1988) which noted the importance that aquaculture development was being given by many FAO member countries; praised the contribution made by NACA to regional aquaculture development; and said that FAO views NACA as a model which other regional aquaculture projects would do well to emulate.
14. Mr. New further stated that, in its growing independence, NACA will continue to receive backstopping from the staff of the Fisheries Department, FAO HQ. However, the Aquaculture Development and Coordination Programme (ADCP) itself also has a role, and a duty, to cooperate, where appropriate, with the regional projects which it has spawned.
15. ADCP seeks to encourage cooperation between Asia and both Africa and Latin America, not only through trainees coming to Asia but by Asian experts providing advice in the other two continents. Mr. New hoped that NACA would play a leading role in encouraging the practical use of Asian aquaculture expertise in the environments of Africa and Latin America. Referring to the new proposals for aquaculture research activities, which are being considered by CGIAR Technical Advisory Committee, Mr. New felt confident that the NACA Lead Centres had the capability to take an active part in this initiative and hoped that NACA will influence the direction of CGIAR aquaculture activities through its established regional linkages in aquaculture research, training and information exchange. The full text of Mr. New's address is in Annex V.
16. In his Keynote Speech, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand, General Harn Leenanond, while welcoming the delegates and representatives, expressed his pride in Thailand's being part of the institution of NACA which, he stated, is undergoing an exciting transitional stage from a regional FAO/UNDP project to a regional independent inter-governmental body. While indicating the extent of the development of aquaculture in the region, he also expressed the need to keep ahead of industry patterns and trends. This would require, he said, another series of bold steps towards strengthening and expanding the present NACA into an umbrella network, including the setting up of several networks or sub-networks of disciplinary programmes.
17. The Minister noted NACA's use of cost-effective methods in sharing the responsibilities of research, training and information exchange among its aquaculture centres, and expressed his pleasure that Thailand, by hosting one of the regional lead centres (RLCT), was contributing to the joint effort of expanding aquaculture development in the Asia-Pacific region.
18. The Minister also felt that as NACA matures and assumes greater independence and self-reliance, the role of Member Governments will become even more critical. Therefore, it is essential that more governments from both developing and developed countries join the efforts at strengthening the Network, and pooling their collective resources under regional cooperation. His Keynote Speech appears as Annex VI.
19. The Meeting commenced at 1035 hours after the Opening Ceremony. Upon the proposal of the delegate from Sri Lanka, Mr. W.M.W. Wijeratna Banda, seconded by the delegate from the People's Republic of China, Mr. Li Dacheng, Mrs. Bung-orn Saisithi, Deputy Director General of Fisheries in Thailand, was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Meeting. Mr. B.P. Sharma was elected as Vice Chairman, upon the nomination of Dr. S.D. Tripathi from India, seconded by Mr. Ong Kah Sin from Malaysia.
20. Mrs. Saisithi, in accepting the privilege of serving as Chairman of the Meeting, highlighted the events of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries which was held the previous week and pointed out that the adoption of the Agreement had established a more solid foundation for building a stronger and larger network with wider responsibilities. The Second PGC Meeting was the best opportunity to plan further without losing any momentum, she said.
21. The Provisional Agenda was adopted as presented. The adopted agenda appears in Annex VII.
