Senior agriculture officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Member States (AMS), together with counterparts from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK), reaffirmed their collective commitment to advancing resilience, sustainability, and food security across the region.
The renewed pledge came during the back-to-back Preparatory Senior Officials Meetings (PREPSOM) of the 25th ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry Plus Three (AMAF Plus Three) and the Second ASEAN-Japan Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AJMAF), held as part of the 47th AMAF in Pasay City.
Philippine Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Policy and Regulations, Atty. Paz Benavidez II—newly elected Chair of the Senior Officials Meeting for AMAF (SOM-AMAF)—commended the responsiveness of AMAF Plus Three in aligning its cooperation strategies with ASEAN’s broader frameworks and sectoral priorities. She stressed the importance of exploring emerging areas such as smart agriculture, greenhouse gas mitigation technologies for smallholder farmers, sustainable protein alternatives, and bio-composites.
The People’s Republic of China reiterated its alignment with ASEAN’s regional agenda through the promotion of smart agriculture technologies and continued support for the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR)—a key initiative aimed at ensuring rice availability during crises and disasters. Operational since 2011, APTERR supports regional food security while promoting poverty alleviation and reducing malnutrition.
Japan underlined agriculture’s pivotal role in addressing climate change and other cross-sectoral challenges. It reaffirmed its commitment to regional collaboration and is set to present a revised ASEAN-Japan MIDORI Cooperation Plan. The revised framework emphasizes action-oriented implementation, climate-smart agricultural technologies, and the importance of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) system in line with international standards.
Republic of Korea also expressed strong backing for the AMAF Plus Three Cooperation Strategy on Food, Agriculture, and Forestry (FAF), which sets a five-year agenda with measurable targets for sustainable and inclusive development. It pledged focused cooperation in key areas including food security, climate change response, sustainable agricultural practices, and regional capacity-building.
Since its first meeting in 2001, AMAF Plus Three—comprising the ten ASEAN Member States along with the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and Republic of Korea—has evolved into a critical platform for regional cooperation. While rooted in agriculture and forestry, the grouping now also supports collaboration in diverse sectors including trade and investment, climate change, technology, education, and disaster management.
Member states of the ASEANare Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Timor Leste has been accepted in principle as ASEAN’s 11th member, and could officially join the regional bloc during the Summit in October.
Meanwhile, the ASEAN-Japan Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AJMAF) continues to gain momentum since its establishment in 2023. Central to this collaboration is the MIDORI Cooperation Plan, which promotes the application of Japanese technologies and experiences to build resilient and sustainable agri-food systems across the ASEAN region.
Together, ASEAN and its Plus Three partners are working to strengthen regional food systems, mitigate the effects of climate change, and drive inclusive growth in agriculture and forestry—ensuring no country is left behind in the pursuit of food security.
