Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) and Asian Productivity Organization (APO) formally embraced the partnership with the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a further three years to bolster the bilateral affiliation and support the collaborative capacity-building initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. The MOU was signed after a bilateral meeting during the 59th Workshop Meeting (WSM) of Heads of National Productivity Organizations in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 2-4 October 2018. The agreement was officially signed by APO Secretary- General Dr. Santhi and CIRDAP Director General Tevita G. Boseiwaqa Taginavulau. In essence, CIRDAP acknowledged and expressed its deep gratitude to APO for having the trust and confidence in CIRDAP to continue working in collaboration. APO and CIRDAP have been working in collaboration particularly through International Training Programme on thematic topics under SDG1: End Poverty in all its forms everywhere and SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture over the last three years. DG CIRDAP, in his speech, delivered that “we are proud to confidently say that we have achieved the common objectives as specified in the last MOU basically by fulfilling the agreed contributions to each programme activity. We reaffirmed our commitment towards the achievement of SDG 1 and SDG 2, amongst others and our own institutions’ mandated roles by renewing the partnership through MOU. In addition, “We have been certainly governed by the spirit of SDG 17: Strengthen the areas of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”, he stated. CIRDAP has more to gain from this partnership as it is intertwined with the opportunity to broaden its visibility to the seven APO member countries who are not CIRDAP members as well as the thirteen CIRDAP member countries who are also APO members through the high level of International Training Programmes”. It is, therefore, evident that this MOU will set the platform to explore the other areas of collaboration apart from International Training Programme with more successes. Director General of CIRDAP Mr. Tevita G. Boseiwaqa Taginavulau (2nd from left) and APO Secretary-General Dr. Santhi (2nd from right) during the 59th Workshop Meeting of Heads of NPOs in Japan

CIRDAP Director General Tevita G. Boseiwaqa Taginavulau attended the Global Land Forum (GLF) held from 22-27 September 2018 through the invitation of its Organizing Committee. He presented a paper on “Rural Development Challenges in Asia” followed by a Panel discussion session on “Multi-Stakeholder Discussion on People-Centered Local Governance in Asia”. Mr. Taginavulau, highlighted the challenges particularly on Rural Poverty, Food Security and Climate Change and emphasized the importance of taking a “Balance Approach” to address these challenges. This means, the incorporation of economic, social, environmental and spiritual components into our development process rather than inclining heavily towards the economic component. He also stressed the need to incorporate traditional best practices and spirituality into the modern development approach. This will bring all stakeholders to connect more closely with nature through their interaction with the land, sea and forest. Consequently, there will be a shift from the Knowledge or Smart Approach to Wisdom-Driven Approach in our rural development process.

Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) to reinforce joint initiatives and support collaborative capacity-building and research initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. Under this agreement, the organizations will work together to promote agriculture and rural development by undertaking joint projects in the area of common interest. The MoU, which was signed after a bilateral meeting during the 59th Workshop Meeting of Heads of National Productivity Organizations in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, will strengthen CIRDAP to support CIRDAP member countries in capacity-building and research in collaboration with APO and NPOs. The agreement was officially signed by APO Secretary-General Dr. Santhi and CIRDAP Director General Tevita G. Boseiwaqa Taginavulau. Mentioning the CIRDAP strategic Plan 2018-2022 that emphasize on strengthening collaboration with other organization, Director General of CIRDAP mentioned that the two organizations had been collaborating over the past three years, particularly through international training programs to help countries in the Asia-Pacific region meet their SDG 1 objective of ending poverty in all its forms everywhere and SDG 2 to eradicate hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. …this MOU will set the platform to explore other areas of collaboration apart from international training programs with more successes.. “We are proud to say that we have achieved common objectives through collaboration with the APO,” he said, adding that the partnership with the APO reaffirmed CIRDAP’s commitment to achieving SDG1 and SDG2. “We have certainly been governed by the spirit of SDG 17 to strengthen the areas of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. We anticipate, therefore, that this MOU will set the platform to explore other areas of collaboration apart from international training programs with more successes,” he added. The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) is an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region. Established in 1961, the APO contributes to the sustainable socioeconomic development of the region through policy advisory services, acting as a think tank, and undertaking smart initiatives in the industry, agriculture, service, and public sectors.