On 25-26 August 2025, AFSIS Secretariat participated in the 45th Meeting of the ASEAN Food Security Reserve Board (AFSRB) hosted by Malaysia. The meeting was conducted as a hybrid meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The AFSIS Secretariat was represented by Mr. Charapon Chantorn, Deputy AFSIS Manager.
The meeting served as a platform for sharing information, evaluating, and forecasting food security data within ASEAN and globally from 2024 to 2025. Discussions covered agricultural statistics on the production, consumption, trade, and food reserves of key crops such as rice, sugar, maize, and soybean among ASEAN Member States.
During the meeting, Mr. Charapon presented the progress report of AFSIS in 2024-2025 Q2, the future work plan, and the cooperation projects with Japan, the Republic of Korea, and relevant organizations. He introduced the newly developed Maize Growing Outlook (MGO) Report and the upcoming project AFSIS Geospatial Information System (AFSIS-GIS), aimed at enhancing food security information through geospatial data. He also emphasized the importance of sustainability, in line with the Joint Understanding on the Sustainability of AFSIS, and informed the Meeting about the upcoming Special Workshop in October 2025 in Japan, which will focus on strengthening the financial sustainability of AFSIS.
The 45th AFSRB Meeting concluded successfully with active collaboration among all participants. The 46th Meeting of AFSRB will be hosted by Myanmar next year.
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.
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On 13–15 January 2026, the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), Thailand, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan, and the AFSIS Secretariat, conducted the 1st Meeting of Japan–Thailand Expert Dialogue on Agricultural Statistics. The meeting was held at the Office of Agricultural Economics and field survey activities in Chonburi Province.
