The 2-day Working Meeting on Strengthening the APTERR Mechanism concluded successfully on 29 April 2025 and resulted in fruitful and productive outcomes for enhancing the APTERR mechanism’s effectiveness in emergency response.
Held in a hybrid format at the APTERR Secretariat in Bangkok, Thailand, the working meeting gathered numerous participants from the APTERR member countries (except Viet Nam, which was unable to attend) as well as representatives from relevant organisations including the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Food Security Reserve Board (AFSRB) Secretariat, the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) Secretariat, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and the consultants from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The working meeting was co-chaired by Ms. Khairunnisa Haji Omar Ali, Acting Assistant Director of the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood, Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, Brunei Darussalam, and Mr. Kenichi Hirano, Director of the Grain Trade and Operation Division, Crop Production Policy Department, Crop Production Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan.
Building on the finding and recommendations of ADB’s systematic review on the APTERR mechanism, this working meeting provided critical inputs to serve as key guidance for the APTERR Secretariat in formulating a strategic action plan to boost the mechanism’s responsiveness and effectiveness.
In addition, participants discussed the potential integration of three initiatives including ADB’s ‘Sub-Regional Hub’, P.R. China’s ‘Public Warehouse’ and Japan’s ‘Rice Storage Hub (Tier 3 FLEX), into a new comprehensive initiative, along with the potential inclusion of ‘wheat stockpile’ under APTERR proposed by the Republic of Korea. The participants further shared valuable insights for conducting the APTERR Tabletop Exercise, aimed at enhancing the APTERR mechanism’s emergency response capabilities. The ERIA also provided an update on its study on the ‘Local Resource-Based Food Reserve (LRBFR).
“The world is now confronting more frequent and extreme natural disasters while regulation uncertainties continue to place global food security at serious risk. In light of such unexpected shocks, comprehensive cooperation and proactive policy dialogue among the APTERR members and relevant agencies are urgently needed”, said Dr. Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, General Manager of the APTERR Secretariat.
