A team of government officials from China were in
PNG last week to discuss agricultural technical assistance.
The six-member delegation from Liaoning province met
with officials from the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL), Central
provincial government and others during their short visit.
The delegation was led by Peng Jianliang, deputy
director-general of the Bureau of State Farms, Ministry of Agriculture.
The visit was a result of the memorandum of understanding
on agricultural cooperation signed in 1993, between the Chinese Ministry of
Agriculture and DAL.
During the visit to DAL headquarters, the Chinese
and DAL officials held cordial discussions and reached an agreement in the
areas of hybrid corn technical cooperation and agricultural technical training.
The team also visited potential sites in Central.
The two parties agreed to co-operate in a number of
areas including the establishment of an agricultural training centre or college
at Mirigeda, outside Port Moresby, potential in food production within Central,
private sector investments in developing the agriculture sector.
It was agreed that training at all levels in
agriculture was an important aspect and with the technology provided in a
conducive training environment, it could have a greater impact in terms of
transforming agriculture in the province and the country.
On food production, the officials agreed that the
potential of food production, especially grain (corn) was huge in Central, and
the Chinese have the expertise and technology to support the grain industry.
The Chinese also expressed interest in a number of
impact projects, in which they could provide investment input.
The team also had a fruitful discussion with
Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Sir Puka Temu, and mentioned the
possibility of the minister making a visit to China.
No comments:
Post a Comment