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"Joing Hands for Strengthening Partnership"
The Working Group on Agriculture revisited the major capacity constraints that have affected this sector. These related to weak infrastructure, inappropriate land tenure systems, non-use of improved technologies for food production and processing, lack of access to credit facilities and lack of appropriate skills and knowledge. With reference to the Tokyo Agenda for Action (TAA), the group noted that the recommendations contained therein, needed to be translated into concrete plans. It also observed that specific priorities differ from country to country and that this needed to be taken into account in the next steps. Considering the above, the group recommended a plan of action leading to the formulation of concrete project proposals on the basis of the TAA. This Plan of Action proposes the use of focal points in African and Asian countries to highlight country priorities for cooperation in this sector as well as to identifying institutions that can participate in the collaborative efforts. An Experts Group meeting, involving experts from specialized institutions, will assist in the drawing up of project and programme ideas for Asia-Africa cooperation, which will be further developed into detailed project proposals to be presented for funding, as appropriate. Possible areas of cooperation to be identified should include areas for which Asia has made considerable headway: agro-processing industries; drought and famine management for food security; water control, water harvesting and management; agricultural research and technology transfer; agriculture and setting up of micro credit/financing systems. It is envisaged that the proposals will be ready before the end of the year 2001. In order to maintain a flow of information, it was agreed that an information exchange channel be established to include a website that would contain information on priority areas and collaborating institutions in African and Asian countries, as well as information on past and on-going cooperation activities in the agriculture sector. Private Sector Development The Working Group on underlined a number of capacity constraints. The constraints included existence of a weak policy and legal framework, poor infrastructure, small size of domestic markets, and inadequate capacity of private sector support institutions. In addition, heavy bureaucracy, financial constraints, weak human resources development and information and communication technologies to facilitate e-commerce, a lack of political will in some African countries, and dependency on production of and exportation of raw materials and semi-processed primary commodities were underlined as capacity constraints. In view of the above, the Group made several recommendations in order to overcome major capacity constraints in the sector. The recommendations included encouraging African countries to take measures to promote a conducive environment for private sector development such as good governance, sound macro-economic policies and transparent legal systems; and supporting African countries in broadening their access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to support the productiveness and competitiveness of the private sector and the development of an e-economy. To support the on-going private sector activities, it was recommended to intensify such initiatives as: i) the Second Africa-Asia Business Forum (AABF-II) as an effective vehicle to bring together Asian and African business partners to negotiate and implement trade and joint ventures; and ii) the Zambia-Malawi-Mozambique Growth Triangle (ZMM-GT), based on the Asian Growth Triangle model, which should serve as an appropriate and effective framework responding to the challenges of Asia and Africa cooperation. In addition, the Group recommended the development of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). According to the Group, there was need to fully support the SMEs including ensuring that they have access to credit to enable them to perform their role as the engine of growth and employment in the African economy. Furthermore, it was recommended that support should be provided to programmes that utilize the technical cooperation among developing countries to promote human resources development and capacity building through Asian experiences. In relation to having an effective public-private sector dialogue, it was recommended that approaches to public-private sector cooperation be strengthened by, among other things, enhancing the performance of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCIs) and Business Councils in Africa to play a more proactive role through such programmes as the "smart" private-public sector partnership with Asia. Realising the importance of inter-regional cooperation, the Group recommended the establishment of inter-regional cooperation between Asian and African sub-regional organizations to facilitate their role as information exchange points and to facilitate networking, exchange of experiences and best practices, through the exchange of visits and the utilization of Asian professionals/experts in short-term assignments in African countries. Finally, it was recommended that joint and collaborative research should be promoted to facilitate and enable the development of technological packages for the industrial use of raw materials and the design of cost-effective and efficient production systems for converting these research results into consumer products in the market place.
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