ADDRESSES AND SPEECHES
Welcome address delivered by Mr. Chen Foo Yan, Coordinator, NACA, at the Opening Ceremony of the Second Provisional Governing Council, 12 January 1988, FAO Regional Office, Bangkok.
Your Excellency, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Distinguished Delegates and Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of FAO and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia, I have the pleasure of welcoming you to the Second Provisional Governing Council Meeting. With the adoption of an Agreement establishing NACA as an independent regional organization at the Plenipotentiaries Meeting held here last week, I am uncertain whether we should continue to call the Governing Council a provisional one! We will have to leave the decision to the Council itself!
The transition of NACA from a UNDP/FAO Project to an independent regional body marks a great event for aquaculture development in the region. The stage is now set for NACA to take off as, in the words of the Director-General of FAO, “a wholly Asian activity.” It is a matter of great satisfaction and pride for all of us to witness the growth of NACA from the uncertain formative years to the adulthood which it is today. This is particularly so to the former ADCP Programme Leader, Dr. TVR Pillay, who is with us today as the NACA adviser to the Meeting. Most of you would know that Dr. Pillay had been instrumental in setting up the project to serve as the Asian component of the global aquaculture network, in which he also played the key role in establishing. At the Fourth Advisory Committee Meeting in Bhubaneswar, India, the former Director of the Lead Centre in Thailand, had aptly called him the “Father of NACA.”
Credit, however, should largely go to the tripartite partnership of the Member Governments, UNDP and FAO. It is, in reality, the Member Governments which have played a major leadership role in fostering the TCDC activities of NACA, and in demonstrating in concrete practical terms, their belief and support for the principle of regional cooperation in achieving common goals of technical, social and economic development among developing countries. In addition to the large investment which they provided in setting up the regional lead centres, which are now regarded as regional and even international assets, they have also made voluntary cash contributions amounting to more than $200,000 to the core activities of NACA during the past 3 years. Along with countries such as Thailand which has provided some funds to supplement local cost of regional training programmes, China has also contributed more than $300,000 fellowship funds from its country IPF/TCDC allocation for the training courses conducted in China.
All the NACA lead centres are now well established and strengthened, and with the increasing importance given to aquaculture in national development plans, other agencies and organizations have increased their collaborative activities with the NACA centres during the past few years. Such collaborations have further strengthened these centres.
One of the major events which would further stimulate the expanded development of aquaculture is the possible support for aquaculture research by the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research. Because of the different national and regional priorities in terms of the types of cultured species and farming systems to be developed, several attempts in the past to attract the support of CGIAR to establish an international aquaculture research centre have not been successful. “Fish” in its broadest term is unlike some major food commodity, such as rice, wheat, maize, root crops, and even chicken, pork and beef. It covers aquatic food organisms in the plant and animal kingdoms, with the latter comprising both the vertebrates. It is for this reason that a network of aquaculture centres was established, to share the responsibility of meeting various aquaculture development needs in research, training and information exchange under the framework of TCDC, and yet without deviating much from the respective centres' set priorities. This approach would allow optimal use of existing capabilities with minimal duplication of effort.
As CGIAR is renewing its interest in aquaculture, we would be well-advised to consider the higher objectives of aquaculture development in the region, and avoid the pitfalls of technicalities and institutional vested interests, thereby creating a conducive environment to attract CGIAR to invest in aquaculture research and establish an international research centre for aquaculture in Asia. Your NACA with its strengthened regional lead centres would have an important role to play in contributing to the efforts of CGIAR in giobal development of aquaculture.
In this meeting, my colleagues and I will look forward to your guidance in the implementation of project activities during this transitional phase. As I will be reporting to you on the progress and programmes of NACA later this morning, I will now take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all of you who have given me unstinting support during the course of project implementation. And to you, Mr. Minister, Sir, my heartfelt gratitude for having made time to grace this auspicious occasion and to deliver the Keynote Address, despite your busy schedule. My appreciation also goes to Mr. Puri, and his staff for facilitating the organization of the meeting and the use of the facilities. Last but not least, my personal and sincere thanks go to my project colleagues and friends for their hard work and dedication throughout the year, and in the preparation for this meeting, as well as the Plenipotentiaries Conference.
Thank you.
