SERDANG, Nov 20 – Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has been selected by the Asian Fisheries Association (AFS) to reallocate their new secretariat office which was previously in Manila, Philippines next month.
UPM immerged as the favourite location after defeating three institutes from Thailand namely, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Bangkok, Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia Pacific-(NACA), Bangkok and Chulalongkorn University Thailand (CUT) where they all appealed to be chosen as the new location for the secretariat.
AFS was established in 1984 based in Manila with 3,000 members from 77 countries including countries outside of Asia such as the United States, Canada, South America, Africa and Europe.
The association formed by Asian fisheries experts is intended for developing the fisheries sectors by enhancing collaboration among researchers, engineers and share holders from the fisheries industry and aquaculture production.
In addition, UPM signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for five year duration in order to increase the aquaculture and fisheries industry in Malaysia.
The MoA was signed by UPM Vice Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Dr. Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah and AFS was represented by Professor Yang Yi from China. The signing was witnessed by the Director, Institute of Bioscience, Prof. Dr. Fatimah Md. Yussof and Secretary of AFS, Prof. Dr. Roshada Hashim.
During the ceremony, Prof. Yang Yi presented the Gold Medal Award to the Vice Chancellor for the university’s contribution in fisheries and aquaculture.
Dr. Nik Mustapha told the media that UPM welcomed the collaboration with AFS to extend the network in the field of academic and research on fisheries.
“The agreement covers intellectual collaboration and training at the state and international level, to ease the networking along the workforce of UPM and members of AFS around the world and to encourage activities that involve fisheries,” he reported after signing the agreement with AFS recently.
“The Aquaculture Department in UPM is also benefiting from the aquaculture technology network and AFS aquatic science globally. For the nation’s interests UPM will gain the benefit from expertise to increase the fisheries and aquaculture industry in Malaysia,” he said.
According to Dr. Nik Mustapha, UPM allocates an office space at the Institute of Bioscience which is equipped with comprehensive amenities to facilitate the staff of AFS and its administration.
He also said that the industry of fisheries and aquaculture has been identified as the key aspect in achieving economic growth and consequently the presence of a renowned fisheries organization will open doors to achieve this goal.
Meanwhile, President of AFS, Prof. Yang Yi informed the media that AFS will be more than willing to assist UPM in expanding chain of fisheries and aquaculture sectors apart from increasing collaborations between UPM and other related agencies from the region and abroad.
“The agreement also includes privilege for UPM staff and students to access AFS publications at the UPM’s library for the purpose of learning and research,” he added.
He informed the media that AFS Secretariat’s reallocation in UPM will draw international visitors such as scientists, scholars and fishery officers mainly because of the worldwide circulation of scientific journals.
“The secretariat will also assist UPM to organize conferences, seminars and workshops related to fisheries and aquaculture,” he concluded.
Prepared by Media Section, Corporate Communication Division, UPM.
