India has defended its decision to ban export of wheat and rice at a WTO meeting even as some member countries have flagged concerns over the country's stand, an official said. At a meeting last week in Geneva, Senegal, the US and the European Union raised questions over this decision, stating it could have adverse implications on global markets.

 

In May, India restricted export of wheat to enhance domestic availability. This month, it also banned export of broken rice and imposed a 20 per cent export duty on non-Basmati rice except for parboiled rice to boost domestic supplies amid a fall in area under paddy crop in the current kharif season.

 

Defending its decision, India clarified that the ban on export of broken rice, which is used in poultry feed, follows a rise in the grain's exports in recent months which put pressure on the domestic market.

 

In the case of wheat, food security concerns necessitated export curbs.

 

'India has also stated that the measures are temporary in nature and under continuous monitoring,' the official said.

 

Senegal, a major importer of India's broken rice and other rice products, urged India to keep trade open in these difficult times to ensure food sufficiency, the official added.

 

At the meeting, Thailand, Australia, Uruguay, the US, Australia, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Paraguay, and Japan requested for consultations with India regarding the use of the peace clause to protect its food programmes against action from trade disputes.

 

In April, India invoked the peace clause, for the third time, for exceeding the 10 per cent ceiling on support it offers to rice farmers. It informed the World Trade Organization that it has used the peace clause of the WTO to provide excess support measures to rice farmers for marketing year 2020-21 in order to meet the domestic food security needs of its poor population.

 

Under the peace clause, WTO member countries refrain from challenging any breach in the prescribed subsidy ceiling given by a developing nation at the dispute settlement forum of WTO.

 

Subsidies over and above the prescribed ceiling are seen as trade distortion. The limit is fixed at 10 per cent of the value of food production for developing countries like India.

 

India has strongly pitched for finding a permanent solution to the issue but there has been no progress so far.

 

The 164-member Geneva-based multilateral body WTO deals with global exports and import-related norms. Besides, it adjudicates trade disputes between the member countries.

India is considering allowing the overseas shipment of some rice cargoes stuck at ports after the world's biggest exporter of the grain imposed restrictions earlier this month, a government official said on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity.

 

To boost local supplies and calm prices after below-average monsoon rainfall curtailed planting, India banned exports of broken rice and imposed a 20% duty on various other export types on Sept. 8

 

India's move to curb rice exports trapped around one million tonnes of grain at ports.

 

Indian exporters have requested the government permission to ship 100% broken rice piled at ports since New Delhi banned overseas shipments of this grade.

 

Exporters have also requested government authorization to ship white rice stocks lying at ports without the 20% export tax, as buyers are not willing to pay the extra cost.

 

'We are examining it,' the source said in response to a question about traders' requests to the government.

 

At least 20 ships are waiting to load around 600,000 tonnes of rice at the ports after being trapped for nearly a fortnight, forcing sellers to pay demurrage charges, industry officials told Reuters this week.

 

Another 400,000 tonnes of rice are stuck at port warehouses and container freight stations even though contracts are backed by letters of credit, an industry leader said.

 

The stuck broken rice shipments were heading to China, Senegal and Djibouti, while other grades of white rice were bought by buyers in Benin, Sri Lanka, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

 

India's rice exports could fall by around a quarter this year as New Delhi's restrictions force buyers to switch to rival suppliers.

 

India's Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare on Wednesday said the country's summer-sown rice output is expected to fall 6% in the 2022-23 crop year, as patchy monsoon rains in the country's east hit planting and crop yields.

National Bee Board (NBB), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in collaboration with National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, organized a National Workshop on Role of Agri Start-ups in Honey Value Chain at NSRTC Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh today. Beekeepers, honey Startups and FPOs, stakeholders in beekeeping, officials from various Ministries/ Government Organizations/ Institutes, State Departments of Horticulture, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs)/ Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs), etc participated in the workshop.

 

In his opening remarks, Dr. N. K. Patle, Additional Commissioner (Horticulture) and Executive Director, NBB briefed about the role of role of Agri Start-ups in Honey Value Chain. He also highlighted the role of National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) and its contribution in the beekeeping sector, including promotion & facilitation for honey startups and FPOs.  He highlighted that implementation of NBHM scheme is also intended to strengthen the infrastructure facilities for honey collection, storage, processing, testing & branding centers, which ultimately enhance the potential of beekeeping in the nation. He invited Honey Startups & FPOs to avail the facilities available under NBHM and adopt beekeeping in a scientific manner to get additional income through honey & other beehive products.

 

Addressing the participants in the workshop, Dr. Sudhashu Singh, Director, ISARC Varanasi said that the Government is committed towards increasing the overall potential of beekeeping industry in the country, including supporting the honey startups and FPOs in beekeeping. He mentioned that in order to alter the scenario of the Indian agriculture and beekeeping, it is essential to emphasize more on small and marginal beekeepers and small entrepreneurs who form the majority in Indian agricultural economy. NBHM is supporting agri- entrepreneurs/ startups for their involvement in beekeeping/ Honey production. He mentioned that promotion and formation of FPOs is the first step for converting Krishi into Atmanirbhar Krishi and for this he assured that implementation of NBHM scheme will bring the revolutionary changes by strengthening the institutional framework in beekeeping sector and information & promotion of Honey startups.

 

Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, DA&FW mentioned that working in line with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call towards creating AtmaNirbhar Bharat, focus is on nurturing potential budding Agri-startups & FPOs through support under NBHM scheme and motivate them to choose beekeeping as an attractive career. He assured that implementation of NBHM will upgrade skills in scientific beekeeping, setting up of state-of-the-art infrastructural facilities for processing honey and allied beekeeping products like bee’s wax, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, etc., quality upgradation by quality control laboratories and create better supply chain by setting up of collection, storage, bottling and marketing centres.

 

Dr. M.P. Yadav, Director, NSRTC, Varanasi stated that such kind of workshops/ awareness programs provide handheld platform and create awareness among budding agri-startups to come forward in the potential agriculture and horticulture sector, including beekeeping. He assured support to participants in various aspects relating to startups in beekeeping.

 

Start-ups from MANAGE and other states like Tribe Grown Enterprise, Amravati, Maharashtra; Vanabandhu NRMS (OPC) Pvt. Ltd., Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; Raghunti Bee Products, Rohtak, Haryana; Madhu Makhi Wala, Barabanki, U.P; Mr. Satish Sharma from Brij Honeyfed FPOs of NAFED; and Mr. Ranjeet Kumar, Innovative Bee Farms Private Limited shared their experience and explained about their products being marketed in the country. They also highlighted the importance of Honey Value Chain being created by various stakeholders. These startups are promoting honey sector by Queen breeding, comb, raw honey production and food supplement of bee pollen.

First Advance Estimates of production of major Kharif crops for 2022-23 have been released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that foodgrain production of 149.92 million tonnes is estimated in kharif season. He said that, agriculture sector is developing day by day due to hardwork of farmers, proficiency of scientist and farmer friendly policies of the Government in the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

As per First Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major kharif crops for 2022-23 is as under:

 

Foodgrains  –  149.92 million tonnes.

Rice  –  104.99  million tonnes.

 Nutri / Coarse Cereals  –  36.56 million tonnes.

Maize  –  23.10 million tonnes. (record)

Pulses  –  8.37 million tonnes.

Tur  –  3.89 million tonnes.

Oilseeds  –  23.57 million tonnes.

Groundnut  –  8.37 million tonnes.

Soyabean  –  12.89 million tonnes.

Cotton  –  34.19 million bales (of 170 kg each)

Jute  & Mesta –10.09 million bales (of 180 kg each)

Sugarcane – 465.05 million tonnes (record)  

As per First Advance Estimates for 2022-23 (Kharif Only), total foodgrain production in the country is estimated at 149.92 million tonnes which is higher by 6.98 million tonnes than the average foodgrain production of previous five years’  (2016-17 to 2020-21).

 

Total production of kharif rice during 2022-23 is estimated at 104.99 million tonnes. It is higher by 4.40 million tonnes than the previous five years’ (2016-17 to 2020-21) average Kharif rice production of 100.59 million tonnes.

 

Production of Maize in the country during 2022-23 is estimated at record  23.10 million tonnes which is higher by 3.21 million tonnes than the average Maize production of 19.89 million tonnes.

 

Production of Kharif nutri / coarse cereals is estimated at 36.56 million tonnes which is higher by 2.92 million tonnes than the average production of 33.64 million tonnes. Total kharif pulses production during 2022-23 is estimated at 8.37 million tonnes.

 

Total kharif oilseeds production in the country during 2022-23 is estimated at  23.57 million tonnes which is higher by 1.74 million tonnes than the average oilseeds production. 

 

Total production of sugarcane in the country during 2022-23 is estimated at record 465.05 million tonnes. The production of sugarcane during 2022-23 is higher by  91.59 million tonnes than the average sugarcane production of 373.46 million tonnes.

 

Production of cotton is estimated at 34.19 million bales (of 170 kg each) and production of Jute & Mesta is estimated at 10.09 million bales (of 180 kg each).

 

The estimated production of various crops (Kharif only) as per the First Advance Estimates for 2022-23 vis-à-vis the comparative estimates for the years 2008-09 onwards is enclosed.

The FSSAI has issued draft regulations for ‘Front of the Pack Nutritional Labelling (FOPNL)’ with respect to  nutritional ratings and asked stakeholders to comment on the same.

 

As reported earlier, the FSSAI decided to go ahead with the health star ratings to be given to food products based on their nutritional values and now will be called ‘Indian Nutrition Rating (INR)’. Its logo will be in line with the logo of BEE Star ratings.

 

The INR system will rate the overall nutritional profile for packaged food by assigning it a rating from ½ star (least healthy) to 5 stars (healthiest). More stars indicate that the food product is better positioned to provide for the daily human need of nutrients.

 

The draft calls for declaration of percentage of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes & millets if present in the food product and added dietary fibre as nutrient in the list for the nutritional labelling wherein all processed and packaged food products covered under the extant FSS Regulations are classified into three categories namely Category-I (Solid foods), Category-II (Liquid foods) and Category-III (Exempted from FOPNL).

 

Called the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling & Display) Amendment Regulations, 2022, they shall come into force on the date of their final publication in the Official Gazette. However, compliance shall be voluntary until a period of 48 months from the date of final notification of these regulations and mandatory thereafter.

 

According to the draft, FOPNL is a form of supplementary nutrition information that presents simplified nutrition information on the front-of-pack of pre-packaged foods. It can include symbols/graphics, text or combinations thereof that provide information on the overall nutritional value of the food and/or on nutrients included in the FOPNL.

 

Also, the draft defines high fat, sugar, salt (HFSS) food as a processed food product which has high levels of saturated fat or total sugar or sodium. The declared values of these ingredients are such that the product does not satisfy the value of energy (kcal) from total sugar less than 10 per cent of total energy, or from saturated fat 10 per cent of total energy, and sodium less than 1 mg/1 kcal.

 

An entire chapter 6 is added to the labelling and display regulations defining the INR. This chapter has the formula to calculate the INR based on reference values of four risk increasing factors i.e., energy, total sugars, saturated fat and sodium per 100 g or 100 ml of the product and, the minimum percentage of positive nutrients i.e. fruit & vegetable (FV); nuts, legumes & millets (NLM); fibre and protein for consideration in the calculation for rating of specific solid foods or liquid foods.

 

Logo

The draft lays down that every packaged food except those exempted from nutritional information under these regulations, shall display the prescribed format (INR) on front of pack calculated on the basis of contribution of energy (in kilocalories; kcal), saturated fat (g), total sugar (g) and sodium (mg) and the positive nutrients per 100 g of solid food or 100 ml of liquid food on ‘as sold’ basis, using the formula mentioned in the regulation.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has announced that GREENEST, a leading plant protein food brand, has shipped India’s first plant based meat export consignment to USA from Gujarat in India. The 5,000 Kg consignment consists of plant-based mini samosas, hot and spicy strips, momos, spring rolls, nuggets, grilled patty, and other vegan products.

 

India's GREENEST is a pioneer in plant based protein products and is backed by investors like Better Bite Ventures ,a New Zealand based dedicated Alt Protein VC fund, Magnetic and Sachid Madan, the former chief executive of ITCs frozen snacks business.

 

'We at APEDA are delighted to facilitate the export of GREENEST’s plant based vegan products made in India to global markets. This is just a beginning, and we hope that India with its rich vegetarian heritage will become a hub for the growing global demand for plant based Vegan products' said Dr M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA.

 

Harpreet Singh, Regional Head, APEDA Gujarat said 'APEDA provides assistance to exporters under various components of its schemes such as Infrastructure, quality, and market development. In addition, APEDA also conducts international buyer seller meets, virtual trade fairs with importing countries to promote export of agricultural & processed food products. Plant based vegan food is a burgeoning category with a strong international potential and we see it as one of the key contributors to our packed foods export portfolio from Gujarat'

The government extended deadline for the export of broken rice in transit by 15 days till September 30 on Tuesday. The earlier deadline was September 15, 2022.

 

Earlier this month, the government had banned exports of broken rice.

 

'Export of consignments of broken rice...as permissible under notification dated September 8 has been extended till September 30, 2022,' PTI quoted the directorate general of foreign trade as saying.

 

The September 8 notification had stated that during the period September 9-15, certain consignments of broken rice will be allowed to be exported.

As a part of its celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) and Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) today jointly launched a Convergence Portal between Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

 

The convergence portal was launched in the presence of Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras, Union Minister, Food Processing Industries, Shri Kailash Choudhary, Minister of State for M/o Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Smt. Anita Praveen, Secretary, M/o Food Processing Industries, and Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, M/o Agriculture & Farmers Welfare along with the senior officials of both the Ministries. Many field functionaries also joined the launch event through the live streaming on Youtube channel of the Ministry.

 

Union Ministers of both the Ministries expressed confidence that this initiative is going to add a new chapter in the lives of Micro Units engaged in food processing.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras said that today’s launch will prove to be very important for the Food Processing Enterprises of the country and is a stepping stone to achieve Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s dream of an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and will also boost concept of ‘Vocal For Local’.

 

Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that it is the idea of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi that all Ministries / Departments of the Government should work together in cohesion to serve the people of the country to the best of their abilities.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) - a medium to long-term debt financing facility started on 08 July 2020 for the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and building of community farming assets. Benefits under the scheme include 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee support.

 

Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) launched a centrally sponsored PPMFME scheme on June 29th, 2020 as a part of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' to enhance the competitiveness of individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment & promote the formalization of this sector. The scheme provides financial, technical and business support for the upgradation of micro food processing enterprises in the country. Credit Linked Subsidy @35%  for the establishment of a micro food processing unit with a maximum limit of Rs. 10 lakh and common infrastructure with a maximum limit of Rs. 3 Cr. are provided for upgradation or setting up of new unit. So far the scheme has benefitted around 62000 beneficiaries engaged in food processing activities. Around 7300 loans have been sanctioned till now, for setting up a new micro food enterprise or to upgrade the existing units, with the subsidy @ 35 % of the project cost. Out of these, around 60% of beneficiaries engaged in Primary Agri produce are eligible and expected to directly benefit from this convergence by getting an additional 3% interest subvention on the rate of interest charged by the Banks.

 

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojna is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries envisaged as a comprehensive package that will result in the creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It is an umbrella scheme, having sub-schemes like (i) Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters (APC), (ii) Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC or UNIT), (iii) Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (CCI), (iv) Food Testing Lab (FTL), (v) Operation Greens (OG) (vi) Research & Development Scheme (R&D). Under the scheme, there is a provision of 35% grant of Eligible Project Cost for General and 50% for SC/ST/Difficult Areas, subject to a maximum of Rs.5 crores to Rs.15 crores in terms of respective sub-scheme guidelines.

 

Through this convergence, the eligible beneficiaries under PMFME and PMKSY Scheme availing credit-linked subsidy would be able to avail an additional benefit of Interest Subvention @3% on the interest rate being charged by the banks over and above the 35% of subsidy being provided under the PMFME Scheme.

 

For the ease of approval of projects under both schemes, the AIF MIS portal has been modified for the acceptance of applications from the beneficiaries under the PMFME and PMKSY scheme. The PMFME beneficiaries would be able to apply directly for the benefit of Interest Subvention on the AIF portal with the DPR approved under PMFME along with the following information:

 

Application Id generated under PMFME scheme

Sanction Letter

Information of Primary and Secondary processing activities with cost.

Similarly, AIF beneficiaries eligible under PMFME Scheme can seek additional benefits of subsidy by applying in the PMFME MIS portal with the sanction letter under AIF and DPR.

Buyers, sellers and freight firms have adopted a 'give and take' policy to overcome the curbs imposed by India on rice exports even as Thailand and Vietnam are mulling increasing the price of the cereal in the global market. 

 

'India’s curbs on rice exports have disturbed the market heavily. But my experience is that sellers have cut the prices by $30 a tonne, buyers have increased the offers by $20 a tonne, while freight firms have reduced charges by $250 per container,' said VR Vidya Sagar, Director, Bulk Logix. 

 

Buyers willing 

'Rice within port premises are moving. But new consignments are not being taken inside since the trade has to come to grips with the new development. The curbs have brought down prices of premium variety rice,' said BV Krishna Rao, President, The Rice Exporters Association of India (TREA). 'Buyers in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Indonesia are willing to pay the export tax,' said S Chandrasekaran, a trade analyst. 

 

India imposed curbs on rice exports from September 9 by banning shipments of broken rice and imposing a 20 per cent export duty on brown rice, paddy and non-basmati white (raw) rice. The Centre, however, exempted parboiled (boiled) and Basmati from the curbs. 

 

Floor price likely

The curbs were imposed to manage a tight food situation with foodgrain stocks dropping to their lowest since 2017 at 49.28 million tonnes (mt) besides 16.16 mt of milled paddy (11.31 mt of rice) as of September 1. While rice stocks are lower than last year at 24.46 mt, wheat inventories at 24.82 mt are at a six-year low. 

 

Amidst this development, Thailand Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sri-on will meet Vietnam Agricultural and Rural Development Minister Le Minh Hoan on October 6 for discussion, including increasing export prices of rice. 'Thailand and Vietnam jointly plan to increase the price by 20 per cent. Perhaps, they may set a floor price for shipments. This could make Indian export curbs and void,' said Chandrasekaran. 

 

Review likely

The move by South-East Asia is because they view their rice as a premium one over Indian rice. But the Indian exporting fraternity says export curbs could be reviewed soon, particularly once the kharif rice production picture becomes clear. 'If the Indian paddy crop size turns out to be good, India will review its duty, which has a net duty effect of 26 per cent since there are additional charges apart from the 20 per cent basic customs duty,' said Delhi-based exporter Rajesh Paharia Jain. 

 

'We also expect the Centre to review the export curbs and relax once the picture becomes clear on demand and supply,' TREA’s Rao said. 

 

According to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, prices of Indian 5 per cent broken white rice have increased by $27 to $365-69 since the ban . At the same time, prices of Vietnam 5 per cent broken have increased by $10 to $403-407. Thailand prices are up $13 to $444 and Pakistan by $35 to $413-17. 

 

Pakistan flood impact

Similarly, 25 per cent broken white rice prices are up $30 a tonne from India, while Thailand and Vietnam have hiked the rates by over $10 and Pakistan by $35. On the other hand, while Indian and Pakistan parboiled rice are quoted at unchanged rates, Thailand has increased the price by $20. 

 

'Countries such as Vietnam and Thailand have increased the prices as they don’t have any cargo. Pakistan prices are up as its crop got affected badly in the floods last month,' said Jain. 

 

'We have begun getting enquiries from countries such as Vietnam and buyers are prepared to pay a higher price due to tax,' said M Madan Prakash, President, Agri Commodities Exporters Association (ACEA). Buyers, however, are taking time to adjust to the hike in prices, he said. 

 

Shipments may drop

Chandrasekaran said Thailand and Vietnam will likely set up an institutional mechanism to fix rice prices since their farmers were struggling with rising production costs. 

 

Bulk Logix’s Sagar said India might also resort to fixing a floor price for rice exports if the current trend continues. 

 

Jain said while parboiled exports are likely to increase, shipments of white rice could drop to 5-6 mt from 9-10 mt. 'Overall, exports of non-Basmati are likely to drop to around 10 mt,' he said.

 

According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), non-basmati rice exports increased to 5.81 mt during the April-July period of the current fiscal against 5.28 mt during the same period a year ago. Earnings from shipments improved to $2.08 billion from $1.91 billion.

 

Last fiscal, India shipped out a record 17.26 mt of non-basmati rice fetching Rs.45,649.74 crore against 13.08 mt earning Rs.35,448.34 crore in 2020-21. Over the last couple of years, India’s rice exports have been driven by record production. Last crop year (July 2021-June 2022), India produce a record 130.29 mt of rice. This year, prospects have been affected by inadequate rains in key growing areas such as West Bengal, East Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. 

 

However, a YES Bank Agri Economic Survey said kharif rice production will be higher despite deficient rainfall in some key growing States.

India leads creation of option for implementation of Farmers Rights (FR)

Second day of GB9 deliberated on two most significant issues of Plant Treaty. Due to incessant efforts of India, an expert group on FR was constituted in 2017 and India led in the group as Co-chair. India ensured discussion of the group even during pandemic and prepared a set of options and future process for implementing FR in any country.

 

India leads revival of enhancement of multilateral system

From 2019, all formal meetings were suspended.  India along with Switzerland organized an informal meeting at UN-Geneva and prepared a based document for GB9 to deliberate.  As a result, a Contact Group is constituted under the co-chairmanship of India to decide the future process.

 

More than 60 delegates visited India’s National Genebank located at National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in Pusa Campus, New Delhi.

Delegates of Norway, Serbia and Zimbabwe interacted with Director, NBPGR and expressed their happiness after seeing the second largest Genebank of the world.

 

India calls for capacity building to use the Global Information System (GLIS)

On the second day of the ninth session of the Governing Body meeting (GB9) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), progress of the GLIS on PGRFA was deliberated during the late evening session. India, as member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, proposed that use of GLIS needs capacity building among Contracting Parties.

 

India calls for continued efforts towards Conservation and Sustainable Use of PGRFA

New tool box and background studies were appreciated by GB9. India, as member of Committee on Conservation and Sustainable Use, proposed joint programs with international and regional organizations/institutes to fulfil this agenda.