Minister Chalermchai’s Statement On APEC’s 7th Food Security Ministerial Meeting

Issued by the APEC 7th APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting

Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand, 26 August 2022

Thailand’s Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Chalermchai Sri-On, shared with agriculture and food ministers from APEC member economies a statement that reflects the outcomes of the 7th APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting.

Read the APEC’s 7th Food Security Ministerial Meeting Chair’s Statement

In his statement, Minister Chalermchai summarized the deliberations between APEC ministers on Friday regarding the current food security crisis and the compounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting that the APEC region must focus on resilient economic rebuilding and recovery.

Minister Chalermchai’s statement reflected the consensus outcomes by the region’s agriculture and food ministers in five key areas:

• Supporting food security and trade facilitation
• Improving livelihoods and well-being
• Promoting sustainability of natural resources and environment
• Enhancing innovation and technology in the agri-food sector
• Balancing economy, social and environment

Ministers agreed to foster active engagement of public-private partnerships in pursuing synergy and cooperation to enhance food security in the region.

The statement encourages member economies to empower micro, small and medium-size enterprises, women, youth and other groups with untapped economic potential to ensure that agriculture is a viable livelihood that sustainably meets the demand for food and agricultural products.

Ministers also endorsed the implementation plan of the Food Security Roadmap towards 2030, which identifies specific actions and initiatives that APEC economies may choose to implement to deliver on the roadmap in the areas of digitalization and innovation, productivity, inclusivity, sustainability, public-private partnerships and smart goals.

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