On 8 August 2022, Mr. Chantanon Wannakejohn, Secretary-General of the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), Ministry of Agricultural and Cooperative (MOAC) of Thailand had attended the Bilateral Meeting in Tokyo, Japan with Mr. KANKE Hideto, Director General, Statistics Department (SD), Minister's Secretariat, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan to discuss the effective and smooth implementation of AFSIS in the future.
The representative of Thailand are Mr. Vinit Atisook, Deputy Secretary General of OAE, Dr. Waraporn Saelee, AFSIS Manager, Mr. Somsak Vivithkeyoonvong, Minister Counsellor (Agricultural), and Mr. Sakon Wanasethi, Counsellor (Agricultural) as an interpreter in a meeting. Moreover, Mr. KIMURA Keitaro, Director of Statistics Planning Division, MAFF, Mr. Hosaka Masahiro, AFSIS Focal Point of Japan, and the Statistical Planning Division staff, MAFF, had attended this meeting as well.
The objective of this significant meeting is to exchange candid opinions in both Thailand and Japan for the future medium-long term framework of AFSIS and to form a common understanding of the general direction to be taken for solving the issue on the sustainability of AFSIS as a mechanism for food security in the ASEAN region.
During the meeting, Dr. Waraporn Saelee presented the current status of AFSIS, including the history and financial situation. In addition, the summary results of the proposed options for the future operational structure of AFSIS along with the discussion made in the 20th AFSIS Focal Point Meeting in June were presented in this meeting for further discussion.
The meeting was successfully ended with great collaboration from both sides to confirm their utmost attempt in order to support the continuity and progression of the AFSIS outcomes in the future.
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On 5–6 March 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the 14th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) Council via video conference, hosted by the Kingdom of Cambodia. The meeting brought together representatives from ASEAN Plus Three countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Food Security Reserve Board (AFSRB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the APTERR Secretariat, and the AFSIS Secretariat to discuss key issues related to regional food security and emergency rice reserves.
On 18 February 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the international event Google’s “Impact of AI on Global Agriculture,” organized by Google.org at Roseate House, Aerocity, New Delhi, India.
On 12-13 February 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat, in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan (RESTEC), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Japan and the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), Ministry of Agriculture Cooperatives (MOAC), conducted a workshop conducted a workshop The Promoting Rice Planted Area and Production Estimation Using INAHOR and Space-based Technologies in Thailand at the Meeting Room 2, Innovation Building, 3rd FL, Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE)
The In-Country Workshop on Promoting Rice Planted Area and Production Estimation Using Space-based Technologies in Lao PDR was jointly organized by AFSIS Secretariat, JAXA, MAFF Japan, and MAE Lao PDR under the AFSIS-GIS and SAFE projects. The event was held in Vientiane with hands-on training on 9 February 2026 and a workshop on 10 February 2026.
