Announcement of the 1st meeting of the Liaison group 16-17th February 2017 in Ljubljana, Slovenia

The Executive Coordinating Body of the Coordination Mechanism for Cooperation in Forestry Between China and CEE Countries published the date for the first meeting of the members of the Liaison Group on the 16th and 17th of February 2017 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The Liaison Group will discuss the priorities in scientific and business field of cooperation under the Coordination Mechanism for Cooperation in Forestry between China and CEEC and adopt all the crucial documents for its work the biennial plan of work and timetable of future events connected with the 16+1 forestry initiative among them the 2nd high-level ministerial meeting of ministers of forestry from 16+1 member countries.

The participants will also be invited to take the Study tour: Presentation of Slovenian good practices of the forest management and of forest mechanization.

See agenda and program of the meeting.

Background

The Coordination Mechanism for Cooperation in Forestry between China and CEE Countries is a comprehensive plan to enhance cooperation in forestry. It has been discussed and established through a series of discussion on a wider 16+1 initiative.

On 6 November 2015 The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia and the State forestry Administration of the People’s Republic of China signed in Beijing a Memorandum of understanding on establishment of the Coordination Mechanism for the Cooperation in Forestry.

On 24 November 2015, the 4th Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries (hereinafter referred to as “CEECs”) formulated and issued the Suzhou Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, which confirmed that the Participants support Slovenia in leading the efforts to establish a China-CEEC coordination mechanism for forestry cooperation. The 1st China-CEEC High-Level Meeting on Cooperation in Forestry will be held in Slovenia in May 2016. It also issued the Medium-Term Agenda for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, which wrote that during 2015-2020, “the Participants will identify new channels of cooperation and encourage all-round exchanges in the forestry sector.

On 24 May 2016, the 1st China-CEEC High-Level Meeting on Cooperation in Forestry discussed and passed the Action Plan for the Cooperation within the Framework of the Coordination Mechanism for the Cooperation in Forestry between China and CEE Countries.

The Liaison Group (LG) consists of members from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, China, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, N. Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia, and observers from Austria and the European Commission will also take part in the meeting, and is an administrative body for the 16+1 forestry initiative.

Draft Biennial programme 2017-18

The draft Biennial programme 2017-18 sets the objectives and tasks and proposes a plan of work on each level of cooperation (administrative management, scientific research and education cooperation; Business and investments opportunities). The plan of work follows the priorities set in the Action plan for cooperation and is enhanced by your contributions.

The work on administrative matters is concentrated on providing administrative support for the work of the Liaison group, setting up of the web site and country visits to promote the mechanism and address any bilateral issues. As the Cooperation mechanism develops further and actual project work will be well underway, the cooperation on administrative level will become a useful tool in fulfilling the mandate of the Action plan i.e. to identify and avoid any administrative barriers.

For more info please contact the Executive Coordinating Body iat  16and1-forestry.mkgp@gov.si

Provisional Agenda 1st LG Meeting

Provisional Programme 1st LG Meeting

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