NINTH SESSION

Summary Record

The Ninth Session of the Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO), was held at the Secretariat and the Headquarters of AFoCO in Seoul, Republic of Korea on 25–26 October 2023. The Assembly was physically attended by Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea (ROK), Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam as Parties, and Singapore as an Observer Country, and the Secretariat. Mongolia as a Party attended the Session virtually. Parties and Observers are collectively referred to as the Member Countries of AFoCO.

Decisions

The Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO),

Recognizing the global megatrends including the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and

Acknowledge the objectives set out in Article 2 of the Agreement on the Establishment of AFoCO;

Decides to
1. Consider and approve the draft Strategic Plan (2024-2030) as contained in the annex to this document D-51-1; and
2. Task the Secretariat to further develop a plan of action for the Strategic Plan (2024-2030), including specified goals, key activities, and KPIs and report to the Assembly.
D-51-IX-23R Strategic Plan (2024-2030)
The Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO),

Recognizing AFoCO’s mandates are aligned with, and responsive to, global climate and development objectives, including the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change; and

Acknowledge the importance of resource mobilization to resolve the climate change issues and the Secretariat will seek to mobilize funding from bilateral, multilateral and private-sector partnerships, at least doubling its funding over the next 10 years;

Decides to
1. Consider and approve the draft AFoCO Climate Action Plan (2025-2034) as contained in the annex to this document D-52-1; and
2. Task the Secretariat to provide the Assembly with annual updates on the progress of the Climate Action Plan, including the status of resource mobilization.
D-52-IX-23R AFoCO Climate Action Plan (2025-2034)

The Assembly of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO),

Having considered the appraisal and recommendations of the respective Project Appraisal Panel (PAP) and the endorsement of the final appraisal by the Project Appraisal Committee (PAC); and

Taking note of the summary of project proposals as contained in document A-23-9-7, hereby:

Approves the project proposals as below, subject to the compliance of any remaining concerns as per comments and recommendations during project appraisal; and

Proponent (Registration No.)	Project Title	Project Duration (year)	Budget (USD)
Proponent (Registration No.)	Project Title	Project Duration (year)	AFoCO	National	Others
PP-2023-KZ-001	Technology and Capacity Enhancement for Massive Production of Quality Planting Materials to Support National Forestation Goals in Kazakhstan	2024-2025	USD 978,146 (KRW1,272,568,362)	USD250,000
PP-2023-KG-001	Conservation of useful and rare tree species in Kyrgyzstan through establishment of a seed storage in order to retain significant resource	2024-2025	USD 978,146 (KRW1,272,568,362)	USD250,000
PP-2023-LA-001	Establishment of the ASEAN-Korea Garden in Lao PDR	2024-2025	USD 1,152,959 (KRW1,500,000,000)	USD 70,800
PP-2023-VN-001	Establishment of the ASEAN-Korea Garden in Viet Nam	2024-2025	USD 1,152,959 (KRW1,500,000,000)	USD 100,800