Calls to seriously consider the present system of Cold Chain practices and make improvement to the entire logistical set up in the Asia Pacific region so that it can be ensured that cold chain systems can be put in place in the various countries located in the region, was given by Fiji on Monday.
Lack of awareness, the deficiency of technical expertise and the huge money involved resulted in the developing countries failing to achieve any form of consistency in the process of implementation of the cold chain system, said Fijian Assistant Minister for Agriculture Viam Pillay.
The minister was speaking at the inaugural session of a five-day workshop on cold chain and Logistics Management for Agri-Food Products in Fiji's third largest city of Nadi.
"I urge you to share knowledge on new technologies and best practices in cold chain and logistics management system for agri-food products and also formulate an action plan for the development and promotion of cold chain systems in member countries," Pillay said.
The strengthening of the already existing cooperation between the Asian Productivity Organizations and Center Integrated Rural Development for Asia and Pacific (CIRDAP) was possible only by taking adopting the collaborative approach, he said.
A cold chain system in a supply chain is essentially a system where the temperature can be controlled according to the needs for storing and transporting of perishables from one market place to another. Such a supply chain can include a host of businesses that would be engaged with manufacturing, transporting, storing, retailing and serving fresh, chilled and frozen foods.
According to Fiji's Department of Information, creating and development of an action plan – nationally or regionally, for the member countries participating in the workshop, would be the focal point of discussions where multiple possibilities to achieve this would be discussed through presentations on the issue made by experts, presentations about specific success cases in countries and site visits.
Improvement of export capacity for the member countries of the region by establishing and improving the existing cold chains and logistic services for small farmers in Asia would also be among the issues that would be discussed.
For Fiji, this issue assumes significance because agriculture plays a very important role for the country in terms of its development growth and stability. Therefore, it can be said that agriculture has always been the backbone of Fiji's economy and with improvements in cold storage facilities, it could play a more important role.
(Source:news.xinhuanet.com)
Lack of awareness, the deficiency of technical expertise and the huge money involved resulted in the developing countries failing to achieve any form of consistency in the process of implementation of the cold chain system, said Fijian Assistant Minister for Agriculture Viam Pillay.
The minister was speaking at the inaugural session of a five-day workshop on cold chain and Logistics Management for Agri-Food Products in Fiji's third largest city of Nadi.
"I urge you to share knowledge on new technologies and best practices in cold chain and logistics management system for agri-food products and also formulate an action plan for the development and promotion of cold chain systems in member countries," Pillay said.
The strengthening of the already existing cooperation between the Asian Productivity Organizations and Center Integrated Rural Development for Asia and Pacific (CIRDAP) was possible only by taking adopting the collaborative approach, he said.
A cold chain system in a supply chain is essentially a system where the temperature can be controlled according to the needs for storing and transporting of perishables from one market place to another. Such a supply chain can include a host of businesses that would be engaged with manufacturing, transporting, storing, retailing and serving fresh, chilled and frozen foods.
According to Fiji's Department of Information, creating and development of an action plan – nationally or regionally, for the member countries participating in the workshop, would be the focal point of discussions where multiple possibilities to achieve this would be discussed through presentations on the issue made by experts, presentations about specific success cases in countries and site visits.
Improvement of export capacity for the member countries of the region by establishing and improving the existing cold chains and logistic services for small farmers in Asia would also be among the issues that would be discussed.
For Fiji, this issue assumes significance because agriculture plays a very important role for the country in terms of its development growth and stability. Therefore, it can be said that agriculture has always been the backbone of Fiji's economy and with improvements in cold storage facilities, it could play a more important role.
(Source:news.xinhuanet.com)
