ACC Participated in the 1st Sino-Myanmar Forest Resources Conservation and Community Development Forum

From 11 to 19 November 2016, the 1st Sino-Myanmar Forest Resources Conservation and Community Development Forum was held in Kunming, Yunnan province of China. Themed “Hand in Hand to Build Beautiful Green Ecological Homeland”, there are around 100 participants and guests from Myanmar and China in the forum. Mr. Wan Yong, Deputy Director-General of Forestry Department of Yunnan Province, U Win Zaw, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Union Minister Office of Myanmar, Mr. Yu Yue, representative from the Department of International Cooperation, State Forestry Administration of China, Daw Zin Mar Thein, Consul of Consulate-General of Myanmar in Kunming, Ms. Zhang Jing, Education Officer of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), and Mr. Niu Dingzhu, Secretary of the Party Committee, Yunnan Forestry Technological College attended and addressed the Opening Ceremony.  

All guest speakers mentioned as a consensus in their speeches that it is of great significance to strengthen China-Myanmar forest resources conservation. Mr. Wan Yong said that Yunnan and Myanmar were geographical neighbours and enjoyed close cooperation in various fields. Yunnan province possessed rich experiences in forest resources and biodiversity conservation and had established unique mode of practice. It was expected to deepen and widen bilateral cooperation and exchange through the forum. U Win Zaw mentioned the on-going cooperation between Myanmar and China in relative fields, namely, coping with global climate change, clean energy development, and biodiversity conservation. Myanmar was of great interest in the experiences of China in agriculture community development and reducing forest deterioration in the recent decade, and hoped to benefit from the idea and information exchange of the forum. Ms. Zhang Jing briefed on ACC’s efforts and achievements in promoting ASEAN-China functional cooperation in vocational education and China-Myanmar education cooperation. It was potential for Myanmar and China to deepen vocational education cooperation in fields related to forest resources conservation.

The Forum was supported by the Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, sponsored by the Forestry Department of Yunnan Province, and organized by Yunnan Forestry Technological College. Three sessions of presentations and discussions were held under the topics of “World Forest Resources Conservation and Community Development Dynamics”, “The Status, Problems and Prospects of Sino-Myanmar Forest Resources Conservation and Community Development”, and “The Significance and Measures of Sino-Myanmar Forestry Cooperation”.