Training Programme for Asia and Pacific Countries Linked
The Philippine-based Southeast Asian Center and an international consultancy firm have agreed to undertake joint training programmes and projects in the Philippines and other countries in Asia and the Pacific. A memorandum of understanding confirming this has been signed between the government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Mandala Agricultural Development Corporation Group of Companies (MADECOR). Signatories to the MOU were SEARCA director, Percy E. Sajise, and MADECOR president, Elpidio Rosario. Witnesses were SEARCA deputy-director Francisco Fellizar Jr., and MADECOR board chairman, Eduardo Sison.Under the agreement, SEARCA and MADECOR will complement each other in conducting training services and other activities of mutual interest to both parties in the Philippines and in other countries in Asia and the Pacific, by drawing on the institutional network built up by them over the years. The services of SEARCA and MADECOR have been utilized by Philippine government departments and private and multilateral as well as bilateral assistance agencies in various programmes and projects in the country. As such, the two organizations have developed productive linkages and goodwill with national and international institutions.
SEARCA is one of the 11 regional centres of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), an intergovernmental body founded in 1965 to promote co-operation between Southeast Asian nations in education, science, and culture. SEAMEO member countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
SEARCA maintains a pool of experts in the SEAMEO member countries in the various fields of specialization needed in the planning and implementation of programmes and projects, especially in agriculture and rural development and other related sectors. It provides expert services to governments and their instrumentalities in Southeast Asia, as well as to multilateral and bilateral agencies in programmes and projects in the region.
MADECOR, on the other hand, provides high quality specialist support in agriculture, forestry, education, the environment, human and natural resources, and integrated rural development areas.
MADECOR's training arm, the Asian Institute of Developmental Studies, Inc., manages and implements specialized short-term training, study tours and fellowships backstopping for research and development projects, private companies, and government and non-government organizations. MADECOR has an effective and functional network with international government and non-government organizations through its well-established national and overseas international network.
For further information:
SEAMEO Regional Canter for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)
College, Laguna, Philippines 4031
Tel.: +63-49-536-2285, 2290, 2380, 3459
Fax: +63-2-813-5697
E-mail: mapl@agri.searca.org