23-25 April 2008, Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City, Philippines
Post-event documents
About the Forum | Forum Orientation | Forum Schedule
Presentation Handouts | Directory of Participants | Photos
Most countries are joining global efforts to promote biofuels in pursuit of energy security, agricultural expansion and diversification, and cleaner air. Historically, Brazil has taken the lead in bioethanol production the world over, but the United States has caught up and biodiesel production in Europe, notably in Germany, has also dramatically increased. In Asia, China and India have joined the biofuel producers, while international agencies like the Asian Development Bank are supporting biofuels strategies in Southeast Asia, notably in the Greater Mekong Subregion. In Southeast Asia, the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines have passed laws directing the use of biofuels, establishing biofuels programs, and appropriating funds for such purpose.
Amidst the increasing interest in biofuels in Southeast Asia, experts warn that intensive and extensive production of biofuel crops can potentially create severe consequences on food supply and the agricultural economy. Meanwhile, environmentalists raise concern about the possible conversion of forests, with their diverse flora and fauna, into monocrop plantations, thereby negating the very purpose of the clean development mechanism that serves as an important rationale for promoting biofuels.
The rush of governments and the private sector in the developing world to join the world’s biofuel producers for energy and environmental security thus calls for rational decision and policy-making and program planning informed by greater familiarity with the technology of biofuel production and its social, economic, environmental, and political implications.
This Executive Learning Forum is a response to the need that was identified in the Workshop on Biofuel Development in Southeast and East Asia: Policy Issues and Research Agenda organized by SEARCA on 7-8 October 2007, with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAD) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. The said conference discussed issues and a proposed research and networking program on biofuels in East and Southeast Asia.
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The executive forum will enable the participants to:
- Update themselves on global and regional trends and patterns in biofuel production, consumption, and policy;
- Analyze and discuss the policy issues and development challenges of biofuel development programs and its emerging industry; and
- Formulate informed recommendations related to action programs, industry plans, regulations, and/or research on biofuels as applicable to their respective areas of influence.
SEARCA welcomes all senior and mid-level decision and policy makers in government agencies, academe, and research institutions in energy, science and technology, agriculture, engineering, forestry, economics, and other relevant fields to biofuel production, processing and distribution. SEARCA is also inviting participants from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam, Timor-Leste, and international public sector organizations in the Southeast Asian region.
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SEARCA’s Training Department is the lead organizer of this forum. Short-term training is SEARCA’s fast lane to imbuing Southeast Asian agricultural development and environmental leaders, academicians, researchers, and practitioners with technical and managerial competencies toward enhancing the impact of their respective organizations in the region.
In collaboration with various international development organizations and national agencies, the Center has turned out more than 13,000 training alumni since it began providing this kind of human resource development service in 1970.
SEARCA’s short-term training program caters to participants who can create the greatest influence in the rural, agriculture, and environment sectors in Southeast Asia through the policies, research and development programs, and training initiatives of their respective countries and organizations. These training participants include policymakers, decision-makers, and leading specialists.
In cognizance of the learning styles and caliber of such participants, SEARCA aligns its programs with current thinking in capacity development, which emphasizes adaptive, experiential learning using mixed modalities of online and face-to-face meetings plus field backstopping/exposure. Emphasizing platforms of exchange and collective learning, the Center’s nonformal learning programs also aim to capture the tacit knowledge of practitioners, researchers, and decision-makers to contribute to knowledge bases, particularly on cutting-edge issues and concerns affecting agricultural competitiveness and natural resource management (NRM). In delivering these learning programs, SEARCA capitalizes on its tradition of partnership with institutions and individuals.
Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz
Training Manager
Tel. No.: (63-49) 536-2554, local 173/125
Fax: (63-49) 536-2283
E-mail:
;
or
Ms. Nova A. Ramos
Training Associate
E-mail:
