RSIS NTS Team Visits ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta
On 30 August, Head of the RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies, Associate Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony and Professor Paul Teng, Senior Fellow (Food Security) with the NTS Centre visited the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta to meet with Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo, Director of the Finance, Industry & Infrastructure Directorate, ASEAN Economic Community Department.
The meeting was designed as a follow-up to the recent Food Security Expert Group Meeting hosted by the RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies in Singapore on 4–5 August 2010.
Assoc. Prof. Caballero-Anthony and Prof. Teng discussed with Dr. Pipoppinyo the findings and recommendations that emerged from the expert group meeting, including proposed measures aimed at enhancing the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) and urban food security in Southeast Asia more generally. They subsequently canvassed the Secretariat’s views on collaborations on two potential projects: (1) the construction of a more holistic set of food security indicators; and (2) an evaluation of the current food productivity capacity of ASEAN countries and an assessment of possible intervention measures to reduce the gap between actual and potential food output. Training programmes and capacity building were also seen as important in building the ability of the region to meet its populations’ food needs.
The Secretariat acknowledged the merit of the Centre’s proposals and expressed an eagerness to embrace fresh ideas, noting that it was open to exploring potential points of collaboration with the Centre. In addition to projects aimed at enhancing food security, the Secretariat expressed interest in exploring other potential areas of collaboration with research organisations such as the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, for instance on issues of climate change and energy security.
Assoc. Prof. Caballero-Anthony and Prof. Teng will build on the momentum from this visit and the preceding expert group meeting by providing input into the upcoming technical meeting of the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) in September 2010.
Posted on: 30/8/2010 1:42:00 AM |
Topic: Other NTS Issues
