The XII Meeting of the APARIS Steering Committee was held on 22 April, 2014 at the Royal Princess Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand under the chairmanship of Dr. Simon Hearn, Chairman APAARI and Principal Adviser, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Six members of the committee and special invitees attended the meeting.
Dr. Raj Paroda, Executive Secretary, APAARI in his address welcomed all the members and appreciated them for sparing their valuable time to attend the meeting. He also appreciated the continued support by ACIAR, FAO and AIT to the APARIS program.
Dr. Simon Hearn, Chairman welcomed all the members of the APARIS Steering Committee and special invitees to the meeting. He emphasized the importance of communication as a tool to adopt and transfer information to different stakeholder groups. He opined that adoption of technology is based largely on good information system. Dr. Simon Hearn expressed his appreciation for the work of APARIS on the sharing of information through both publications and APAARI website. He further stressed on the challenges concerning agricultural development in the region, which requires effective communication systems and highlighted the important role being played by APARIS in this direction.
Dr. Jonathan Shaw, Executive Director of AIT Extension and Dr. Kevin Gallagher, Agriculture Research, Extension and Education (REED) Officer of FAO RAP, appreciated the collaboration between their organizations and APAARI and expressed their keen desire for continued cooperation and possible supports in future activities of APARIS.
Ms. Chanerin Maneechansook, Program Assistant, APARIS presented the Action Taken Report on the decisions taken in the Eleventh Meeting of the APARIS Steering Committee held on 13 October, 2012 at NASC Complex in New Delhi. The Committee acknowledged the progress made by APARIS and approved both the minutes and the action taken report.
