Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation U Min Naung participated in the 47th ASEAN Ministers’ Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry and related sessions in Metro Manila, the Philippines, from October 1 to 3, 2025.
On October 2, the minister met with the Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Their discussions focused on cooperation in human resource development, high-quality seed production, research and development, systematic farming methods, and improving irrigation infrastructure management. They also reviewed progress on the Biosafety Level-3 animal disease diagnostic laboratory under construction in Nay Pyi Taw.
That evening, U Min Naung attended an official dinner hosted by the Philippine Secretary of Agriculture, alongside ministers from other ASEAN and partner countries. The following day, the group visited the National Museum of Natural History in Manila to view exhibits on botany, zoology, and geology.
During a study tour, the Philippine Secretary of Agriculture highlighted the country’s significant loss of forest coverage, which dropped from 70 percent in 1900 to just 12.8 percent by 2010. In response to regional deforestation, the Philippines has proposed an ASEAN-wide initiative to plant one billion trees.
The minister also joined other delegates in visiting the 30th Agri-Link, 24th Food-Link, and 19th Aqua-Link exhibitions at the World Trade Center. The events featured a wide array of agricultural products, seeds, food items, farm machinery, water industry equipment, livestock technologies, and farmer training programmes.
