16 young experts set for agricultural exchange in the Netherlands

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday held an event to introduce 16 young Taiwanese agricultural experts who are heading to the Netherlands to take part in an annual government-funded agricultural exchange program.

The Young Agricultural Ambassadors program was launched in 2017 and is co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Ministry of Agriculture.

It was originally designed to promote exchanges between Taiwan and countries covered by the New Southbound Policy.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung, center, second row, holds a placard alongside event guests and 16 agricultural experts at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Participants in the government-funded Young Agricultural Ambassadors program are to depart for the Netherlands on Sunday. It would be the first time the annual program has sent a delegation to a country outside the New Southbound Policy’s scope.

Photo: Huang Chin-hsuan, Taipei Times

Since the program’s inception, more than 150 ambassadors aged 18-45, specializing in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and animal husbandry have traveled to Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and Thailand, Lin said.

This year marks the first time the program has sent a delegation to a country outside the scope of the New Southbound Policy, he said.

The Netherlands was chosen as this year’s destination because it is globally renowned for its floriculture industry and is a pioneer in smart agriculture, he said.

Taiwan and the Netherlands have also maintained close agricultural cooperation, with the two sides holding agricultural working group meetings since 1993 and fostering what Lin described as “a deep and robust agricultural partnership.”

The New Southbound Policy was launched in 2016 under then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to expand Taiwan’s economic, educational and cultural ties with the 10 ASEAN member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Matthijs van der Hoorn, deputy representative of the Netherlands Office Taipei, highlighted the “strong, robust and long-standing” agricultural relationship between the Netherlands and Taiwan, during his address at the ceremony.

“We have been collaborating in knowledge exchange, mostly successful business matchmaking events, and tackling complex planetary and interplanetary market access issues,” he said.

“To the young agricultural investors selected this year, you represent the future of agriculture,” he said, adding that their journey would “pave the way for the next generation of agricultural solutions.”

According to MOFA, this year’s delegation comprises young professionals specializing in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, animal husbandry, floriculture, controlled- environment agriculture, fruit and vegetable production and marketing, and livestock farming.

The delegation is scheduled to leave Taiwan on Sunday for an eight-day visit to the Netherlands, during which its members will engage with their Dutch counterparts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in floriculture, controlled- environment agriculture, livestock farming, and fruit and vegetable production and marketing, MOFA said in a press release.