Third Governing Council of UNAPCAEM Elected at 65th Commission Session of ESCAP Set to Take Action

The key message of the annual Commission Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (ESCAP), notes that in order for Asia and the Pacific to recover from the current economic crisis, food-fuel volatility, as well as climate change, inclusive region-wide development policies must be embraced which create social protection and have long-term sustainability.

Heeding the call, UNAPCAEM via its Technical Committee (TC) and Governing Council (GC) is taking substantive actions to address the above critical issues by applying innovation in agricultural technology, including clean, post-harvest and farm mechanization technologies, particularly through South-South Cooperation, in conformity with the strategic framework of ESCAP and inputs from its member states.

As part of this year’s Commission Session and in accordance with the Statue of the United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (UNAPCAEM), this year’s Session elected along with the host country, China, the following countries to the Governing Council of UNAPCAEM for the period 2009-2012:

  • Cambodia
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Pakistan
  • Republic of Korea
  • Thailand
  • Viet Nam

The objective of Technical Committee and Governing Council of UNAPCAEM is to review the administrative and financial status of UNAPCAEM, and the implementation of its programme of work while providing advice on the formulation of the programme of work and other matters concerning the operation of UNAPCAEM .

At the Commission Session, the representative of China expressed appreciation for the work of UNAPCAEM and voiced continued support to the work of UNAPCAEM particularly in the context of enhancing South – South Cooperation.

The 65th Commission Session was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 23 to 29 April 2009, which also marks the 60th anniversary of ESCAP’s presence in Thailand. Under the new vision of the Executive Secretary, ESCAP is committed to strengthening the integration of the regional institutions such as UNAPCAEM with ESCAP and to providing more support to regional institutions as “centers of excellence for delivering more effective services to the member states.”