The Tenth Board of Trustees (BOT) Session of the International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet) was held in Davao City, Philippines on 2 September 2016, a day after the “International Symposium on Tropical Fruits: Towards Sustainable Tropical Fruit Production and Global Food Security”.
It was attended by 26 delegates from 11 countries, including a representative from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), observers from African Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (MPIB), The Global Horticulture Initiative (GlobalHort), and the TFNet Secretariat.
His Excellency Mohd Sallehhuddin bin Hassan, Deputy Secretary General for Planning, Ministry of Agriculture Malaysia, officiated the meeting as Chairperson.
The main agendas discussed during the meeting included the action taken to address the initiatives specified in the TFNet strategic plan (2015-2020). The discussion on the progress report and strategic planning initiatives, focussed on the TFNet membership status, financial sustainability and promotion of the network. While, members agree that there has been an increase in country members and activities pertaining to income generation, there is still room for TFNet to expand its role as a global player. Future activities such as workshops, seminars and consultancies should be focussed on the involvement of more tropical fruit growing countries.
The meeting also decided that the next Board meeting will be held in Nadi, Fiji.
