1 The Third Meeting of the Provisional Governing Council of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia was hosted by the Royal Thai Government and held at the FAO Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand on 10–13 January 1989.
2 The Meeting was attended by representatives of the participating Governments, except Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. Other Asian Governments represented were Burma, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Also present was representatives from the United Nations Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, International Development Research Centre, International Center for Living and Aquatic Resources Management, Danish Agency for International Development Agency, International Agriculture Centre on behalf of the Netherlands Ministry of Development Cooperation, Overseas Development Administration of the United Kingdom, Kasetsart University, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, ASEAN-EEC Aquaculture Development Coordination Programme, and Bay of Bengal Programme for Coastal Fisheries Development. 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 0930 hrs on 10 January 1989, with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Dr. Charoen Kanthavong, as Keynote Speaker.
4 The delegates were welcomed by Mr. Vanich Varikul, Director General of Thailand's Department of Fisheries, who noted the increasingly active participation of Thailand in the NACA and the Regional Seafarming Development Projects. He assured the Meeting that the Department of Fisheries will continue to strongly support TCDC activities under the Network. His remarks appear as Annex II.
5 The NACA Coordinator, Mr. Chen Foo Yan, in his introductory remarks, thanked the Government of Thailand for hosting the Third PGC meeting. He highlighted two points in the progress of NACA: (1) that it has come of age and is set to become an autonomous intergovernmental institution; and (2) that the Asian Aquaculture Networks has greatly expanded, with the Regional Seafarming Project coming under the NACA umbrella. These have been achieved by the strong supportive collaboration of all concerned, particularly the cohesive partnership of the governments, UNDP and FAO.
6 He hoped that with the establishment of the Intergovernmental NACA, a wider base for support will be created; that unhealthy competition for limited funds and for recognition would be avoided; and that complementarity will prevail for the benefit of the peoples of the region. The introductory remarks appear as Annex III.
7 The FAO Assistant Director General and Regional Representative, Mr. S.S. Puri, noted the decisive nature of the Third PGC Meeting, for its task of deciding on the Programme of Work of the Intergovernmental NACA and its budgetary arrangements. These two factors are crucial to the survival and development of a newly independent organization.
8 He cited the support of UNDP to the Project and hoped that it will continue to support the Intergovernmental NACA during its early period of development. While noting that 80 per cent of the world's aquaculture production was in Asia, he urged NACA to place very high priority on the information programme. He conveyed the best wishes of FAO for NACA's success and urged all concerned to sustain their enthusiasm and participation in the Network activities. The speech of Mr. Puri is shown in Annex IV.
9 Mr. Abu Y.M. Selim, UNDP Deputy Regional Representative, said that by becoming an autonomous and intergovernmental organization, the Project has fulfilled its original goal of achieving its objective of becoming self-reliant. He attributed this largely to the efforts of all Member Governmentals and the usual able assistance of FAO.
10 He pointed out that UNDP support to national and regional development projects is of a catalytic nature and, therefore, it was a source of immense satisfaction to see that the modest catalytic support given by UNDP has galvanized a broad regional effort to institutionalize NACA. Mr. Selim's speech appears as Annex V.
11 Mr. W.L. Chan, Project Operation Officer of the Fisheries Department of FAO, traced the development of NACA which he described as a proven success of regional cooperation. Through the Network of linked aquaculture centres, considerable achievements have been made, with the excellent cooperation of all concerned, in developing functional manpower of various levels through training, in research and development of existing culture systems, in technology transfer, and in a wide-ranging aspect pertinent to the collective aquaculture development needs.
12 He said that one of the most importants achievements of NACA was the cost-effective regional mechanism generated that has enabled cooperative efforts in addressing common aquaculture development problems collectively. This can only be realized with government's active and positive participation in sharing responsibilities in the spirit of TCDC. With this situation maintained, the Intergovernmental NACA will sustain and surpass its present performance, he said.
13 He added that FAO had studied with great interest the proposed Programme of Work of NACA for 1990–1994 which he described as heavy but most meaningful. FAO agreed that the advisory assistance during the interim period is important to ensure a fully functional status for the new Intergovernmental NACA. Dr. Chan's speech appears as Annex VI.
14 The Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Dr. Charoen Kanthavong, formally opened the Meeting. He announced the gracious offer of the Royal Thai Government to host the headquarters of the Intergovernmental NACA. The Government is presently formulating appropriate immunity status and related privileges to the autonomous body. He informed the Meeting that the Government had approved Thailand's participation in the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia and the Pacific. The address of the Deputy Minister appears as Annex VII.
15 Upon the proposal of the delegate from Sri Lanka (Mr. W.M.A. Wijeratna Banda) seconded by the delegate from Nepal (Mr. Bharat Prasad Sharma), the delegate from the Government of Thailand, Mrs. Bung-orn Saisithi, was unanimously elected Chairman of the Third Meeting. Upon the motion of the delegate from Hongkong (Dr. Lawrence Lee), seconded by the delegate from Indonesia (Mr. Untung Wahyono), the delegate from Sri Lanka Mr. W.M.A. Wijeratna Banda was unanimously accepted as Vice Chairman. Mrs. Saisithi thanked the Members of the Council for their confidence and said she was privileged to serve as Chairman to the pivotal Third Meeting.
16 The Provisional Agenda was adopted as presented. The adopted agenda appears as Annex VIII.
