^{Ms Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of ESCAP, and Mr TANG Jun, Vice Minister for the State Administration for Market Regulation, during the signing of the memorandum of agreements between ESCAP, CNCA and ENAMA}

To speed up sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific, the United Nations’ regional development arm has committed to cooperating with the government of China on a wide range of areas at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing.

Guided by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will strengthen regional connectivity in Asia and the Pacific. A balanced and integrated approach across countries and sectors will be taken to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

ESCAP Executive Secretary, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana remarked, “As we work to accelerate the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, signing this MOU marks a new milestone in the cooperation between ESCAP and the People’s Republic of China. It will add momentum to our work to promote economic, social and environmentally sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.” At the Forum, Ms. Alisjahbana further emphasized that ESCAP would continue to support the exchange of best practice and foster a common approach to regional economic integration based on international standards, UN values and norms.

On the sidelines of the Forum, ESCAP also committed to greater food security and rural development in the region by harmonizing local and interregional agricultural expertise.

ESCAP, through its regional institution, the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM), signed two Memorandums of Agreement boosting knowledge-sharing and concerted action for effective and robust agricultural machinery in the region.

Capitalizing on cross-regional linkages, CSAM has committed to cooperating with the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNCA), currently known as the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Italian Agency for Agricultural Mechanization (ENAMA).

The agreement aims to promote collaboration on information, knowledge and technology sharing, and capacity-building in support of sustainable agricultural mechanization in ESCAP member States in areas such as strengthening of technical guidelines, testing of agricultural machinery and development of conformity assessment procedures.

It also seeks to leverage the strengths of the respective partners and is well aligned with CSAM’s efforts to improve rural livelihoods and alleviate poverty toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The memorandum marks existing collaboration between CSAM and ENAMA, the latter of which had previously engaged in a consultative capacity to CSAM initiatives and hosts the European Network for Testing of Agricultural Machines (ENTAM) secretariat.

ESCAP also signed a second memorandum of agreement for collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (MARA). Through the agreement, both institutions stand to gain from a mechanism to assist the design and implementation of joint programmes and activities between the Department of Farm Mechanization of MARA and CSAM in support of CSAM’s mission to promote the use of safe, efficient and environmentally sound agricultural machinery in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Government of China, through MARA, has been providing regular support to CSAM’s work, including financial and technical assistance and strategic partnerships by means of co-organizing trainings, seminars and workshops to showcase successful practices.