On December 12, Prof. Wu Kongming, President of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and Dr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), signed the FAO-CAAS Innovation Platform Agreement online, which will carry out a series of joint innovation activities at regional and global levels to support global sustainable development as an important part of the cooperation mechanism between the two sides. In addition, at the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) held on 20 September 2022 during the UN General Assembly, the establishment of the platform was identified as a practical measure to promote cooperation of GDI. Mr. Ni Hongxing, the Counsel (Director-General level) of the Department of International Cooperation of the MARA, Mr. Zhang Wen, the Counsel (Director-General level) of the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the MARA, Mr. Laurent Thomas, FAO Deputy Director-General, and Ms. Beth Bechdol, the FAO DDG, witnessed the on-line signing ceremony. Mr. Sun Tan, CAAS Vice President, presided over the event.

President Wu pointed out that, FAO is one of the most important strategic partners of CAAS, and CAAS attaches great importance to the cooperation with FAO. The two sides have made remarkable achievements in jointly hosting international events and policy dialogues, technical cooperation and South-South Cooperation projects, establishing cooperation platforms and supporting FAO’s global actions. As a major outcome of the long-term and close cooperation between the two sides, the Innovation Platform has been incorporated into practical measures to promote GDI cooperation, and has received strong support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. President Wu put forth three suggestions regarding the platform’s future work. First, the two sides should make full use of the technical and human resources of CAAS to build the innovation platform as an agricultural S&T platform that targets the Asia-Pacific region and serves the whole world. Second, the two sides should conduct practical cooperation at various levels and in various fields based on the Innovation Platform. Third, the two sides should leverage the role of the Innovation Platform in South-South Cooperation, thus to generate more significant effect in agricultural development worldwide.

Director-General Qu stated that, FAO firmly believes that S&T and innovation can help accelerate the transformation of global agrifood systems. The Innovation Platform jointly established with CAAS is committed to be a platform for agricultural S&T that targets the Asia-Pacific region and serves the whole world. He hoped that, the establishment of the Innovation Platform will be conducive to the expanding of innovation cooperation resources, the sharing of China's innovation experience, innovative technologies, and best practices with the rest of the world, and agricultural development in developing countries. The Innovation Platform will promote the transformation of regional and global agrifood systems through S&T and innovation, and contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

More than 30 participants from the Office of the Director-General, the Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division (PSU), the Office of Communications (OCC) and the China Office of the FAO, and the General Office, Department of Research Management, Department of International Cooperation, the Institute of Crop Sciences (ICS), Institute of Plant Protection (IPP), Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (IEDA), Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development (IAED), Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) and Agriculture Information Institute (AII) of CAAS, attended the on-line signing ceremony.

By Liu Lingfei (liulingfei@www.comparadata.com)