Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has agreed to enter into a cooperation with the DLG, the German Agricultural Society and organizer of Agritechnica and Agritechnica Asia, that will enhance the technical program at the 2018 edition of Agritechnica Asia exhibition. This event, which takes place in Bangkok, was held for the first time this year, when it attracted 8,200 visitors and 89 exhibiting companies.
The technical program at Agritechnica Asia 2018 will benefit significantly from the support of the Thai agricultural ministry. The focus on practical areas of interest to the agricultural sector in the Southeast Asian region is now expected to put even more emphasis on topics and solutions tailored to local farmers.
“The future cooperation with the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives underlines DLG's mission of knowledge-sharing across borders; exhibitions are an ideal platform to transfer targeted practical solutions, and support from local partners, in this case the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, is crucial in this regard,” said Jens Kremer, Deputy Managing Director of DLG Service.
Thailand's Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Chutima Bunyapraphasara, and DLG discussed the potential for future cooperation during a five-day mission to Agritechnica 2017 that included 10 senior officials from Thailand's agricultural ministry, as well as representatives from the country's embassy in Brussels. The Thai agricultural ministry and DLG shared the same vision to develop the agricultural sector in Thailand further. Over the next few weeks both parties will enter into detailed discussions to identify further specific topics to be jointly developed. These may include standardized testing procedures for Thai machinery, trainings and seminars for young and smart farmers and demonstration possibilities of agricultural machinery.
The importance of Southeast Asia for the global agricultural machinery industry was also shown at the AgMachinery International Conference session at Agritechnica titled “Southeast Asia in focus – Will Western brands find their place?” In her welcome address, Deputy Minister Bunyapraphasara answered affirmatively and referred to several companies attending Agritechnica Asia which have already entered the Thai market. She highlighted the emerging opportunities in Southeast Asia and especially in Thailand.
“Thailand is one of the first countries in the world to be included in our new Agrifuture Insights survey. We consider the country a vitally important future market for international agricultural technology, and we are pleased to be joining forces with the agricultural ministry to help in this development,” added Kremer.
Deputy Minister Bunyapraphasara said the future cooperation with DLG was in line with her country's aim to increase the supply, quality and prices achieved for agricultural products. “We are focused on the implementation of a project to improve agricultural production,” she said. “We want to reduce inequality and create stability in Thailand's farming sector, and the plans we are implementing include efforts to improve the knowledge of farmers through learning centers and other initiatives, as well as promoting agricultural mechanization to reduce the labor requirement and increase efficiency in the sector.”
DLG's mission is to transfer knowledge and technology to promote progress in farming and the agri-food industry to help secure sustainable global agriculture. It supports an international dialogue between science, practical farmers and society through an open, international network of experts – practitioners, academics, consultants, and specialists from government and politics – from around the world to develop future-oriented solutions to the challenges facing the industry.
This year DLG launched its Agrifuture Insights program, which is a multi-country opinion survey of farmers from different countries. Thailand is one of the first countries to be included.
As well as organizing agricultural exhibitions worldwide, DLG is also an implementation partner in cross-country programs which include projects such as the joint German-Chinese Ganhe Demonstration Farm located in North East China, which has one of highest levels of agricultural mechanization in China. This program was initiated by the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture, Germany.
Agritechnica Asia 2018 will take place from 22 to 24 August at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center (BITEC). The trade fair is jointly organized by DLG and VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific. More information can be found online at http://www.agritechnica-asia.com/.
