Hanoi 11/13/2024 – The Italian Joint Committee, during the last meeting on November 6th, approved the initiative “Scientific and technical support for sustainable agriculture in ASEAN countries -3S” for the amount of 2,829,198.58 Euro.
The project aims to promote the resilience of the population of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members state by mitigating the effects of climate change and promoting social, economic and environmental sustainability through the introduction of sustainable agricultural practices and agricultural mechanization for the corn, cassava and sugar cane supply chains.
A consortium formed by the University of Milan, the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture will implement the three-year project.
The new initiative marks another crucial step in the Development Partnership between Italy and ASEAN for the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. This comes after the previous approval of the “Cooperation Mechanism for the Competitive and Sustainable Development of Aquaculture and Small-Scale Fishery in ASEAN” initiative for the amount of 2,999,745 Euros and the “Italian contribution to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund” for the amount of 2,500,000 Euros.
The role of the AICS office in Hanoi is further consolidated with the recent opening of the project office in Jakarta, where the ASEAN Secretariat is based, strengthening operational and technical support for implementing the Italy-ASEAN partnership in development cooperation. With ASEAN, the AICS office in Hanoi aims at innovative and wide-ranging development cooperation, giving centrality to environmental and rural development issues.
Italy acquired the status of ASEAN Development Partner in September 2020 and has since collaborated closely with ASEAN, specifically in environment, rural development, circular economy, tourism, science and technology, and health.