New Delhi. Two groups of Taiwan young agricultural ambassadors will visit Thailand and India later this month as part of government efforts to forge closer ties with New Southbound Policy partner countries and put people-centric, two-way exchanges into practice.
According to the Taiwan Ministry of External Affairs officials each group comprising 15 university students, will meet with local officials; produce wholesalers and Taiwan-owned businesses, visit farms, and also take part in educational and research exchanges.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Council of Agriculture have jointly organized the Young Agricultural Ambassadors New Southbound Policy Exchange Program widely acclaimed since 2017.
Young experts in farming, forestry, fisheries, and animal husbandry were selected that year to engage in exchanges in Indonesia and the Philippines, two key New Southbound Policy partner countries.
Earlier in 2018, a group of Young Agricultural Ambassadors was dispatched to Malaysia and Vietnam with the aim of strengthening agricultural technical cooperation and exchanges of talents with these nations. It is hoped that the program will continue to add new platforms for Taiwan’s younger generation of farmers to experience international trends and expand their capacity to innovate.
The purpose of the program is to encourage international engagement by young Taiwanese specializing in farming, forestry, fisheries, and animal husbandry, and help them exert their ingenuity and vitality as a new generation of agricultural talents. Overseas trips will stimulate their ability to innovate and establish links for agricultural cooperation between Taiwan and the nations of the New Southbound Policy region.
This year, 30 farming, forestry, fisheries, and animal husbandry specialists aged 18 to 40 have been selected and divided into two groups of 15. One will visit India and the other will visit Thailand, each conducting field visits and in-depth exchanges for seven to eight days. These young individuals hail from diverse backgrounds, including agricultural economics, organic farming, agricultural extension, fruit and vegetable gardening, animal husbandry, aquaculture, honey and essential oil processing, and plant disease prevention and control. In addition to students at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels in relevant fields, a number of participants have also been listed among Taiwan’s Top 100 Outstanding Young Farmers. Others are second-generation immigrants, some speak Thai, and many have targeted New Southbound Policy partner nations as future destinations for starting or developing a business.
This year’s Young Agricultural Ambassadors will visit India and Thailand to understand these countries’ current economic outlook and business opportunities and gain a better grasp of local wholesale operations and marketing patterns. They will also visit renowned producers, factories, and farms operated by Taiwanese businesspeople, as well as engage in exchanges with local producers, officials, and academics.
This will enhance their understanding of New Southbound Policy partner nations and increase substantive agricultural cooperation between Taiwan and these countries.
