23.05.2018 / 13th Agro-Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum and Sixth Meeting of the Consultative Board in Lithuania

During 23-25 ​​May 2018, the 13th Forum for Agri-Trade and Economic Cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe took place in Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. Mr. Vasil Gelev, Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEE Countries (APACCCEEC), was part of the Bulgarian Delegation, led by Deputy Minister Verginia Krasteva.

The program of events included the Political Forum on Food and Food Losses and the Meeting of Agriculture Ministers of China and the Central and Eastern European Countries (16+1 format) on “Intelligent Agriculture – Innovative Solutions for Food Security and Food Safety food “.

On May 24th, the Sixth Meeting of the Consultative Board of APACCCEEC took place. Bulgarian, Chinese, Lithuanian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian members participated in the meeting. After the signing of an attendance protocol by the representatives of the states and in the presence of a quorum, the meeting was held with the following agenda:

Point 1: Official opening of the Sixth Meeting of the Consultative Board of APACCCEEC and greeting addresses from:

• Shu Yong, 16+1 Secretariat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC
• Representatives from the Lithuanian side
• Li Kaihang, First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Bulgaria
• Vasil Gelev, Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEE Countries (APACCCEEC)
• Addresses from China and the CEE countries (in alphabetical order, up to 5 minutes per country)

Topics discussed:

✓ Trade between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe

✓ Future projects between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the field of agriculture

✓ 16 + 1 agricultural cooperation in the context of globalization

Point 2: Yantian Port presented the opportunities for the creation and development of “16+1 Logistic Hub and Pavilion for eCommerce of Agricultural and Other Products” – Yantian Port, Shenzhen, PRC

Yantian Port expressed its willingness to cooperate with the CEE countries in creating a “16+1 E-Commerce Logistics Hub and Pavilion for Agricultural and other products”.

Point 3: The 16+1 Cloud e-commerce platform (www.16plus1cloud.org/) was provided with official accounts (username and password) for China and the Central and Eastern European countries. The development of the APACCCEEC Project “16+1 E-Commerce Logistics Hub and Pavilion for Agricultural and other products” was discussed and carefully analyzed.

Point 4: The Consultative Board members discussed the acceleration of cooperation between China and the CEECs.

The Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEE countries has provided an investment project form that is a kind of guide to the preparation of investment projects in the field of agriculture. After completing the necessary information in the template “Investment project form” by the respective company/association/center/organization from China and the CEE countries and submit it to the APACCCEEC, the investment project will be presented by the Association at agricultural exhibitions, meetings, forums with similar concept and to investors from China and the CEE countries.

Point 5: The organization of important events related to the activities of the APACCCEEC was considered and approved.

Paragraph 5.1: Discussing the date and the venue of the Agriculture Ministers meeting in 2019 at the 14th China-CEEC Agro-Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum & International Fair.

Paragraph 5.2: The date and place of the 7th meeting of the Advisory Board of the Center for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEECs was discussed and adopted.

Bulgaria proposed that the Seventh Meeting of the Consultative Board of APACCCEEC shall be held the second half of 2018 in China.