Thai Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, H.E. Pongpol Adireksarn, together with a delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture visited Denmark from the 3rd to the 6th of June 1998.
“There is a long-lasting cooperation and friendship between Denmark and Thailand and our visit is the latest to cement this relationship”, Mr. Pongpol Adireksarn, Thailand’s Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said in an interview with Thai-Danish Trade News during his visit to Denmark from the 3rd to the 6th of June 1998.
“Thailand has benefited much from both Danida and Danced, and this visit has been a good opportunity to review some existing and new ways of cooperation,” he said.
The Minister and his delegation spend three busy days in Denmark as the guests of the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Agricultural
Council of Denmark and the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy before flying back to Thailand on Saturday the 6th of June.
Under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Agriculture, H.E. Khun Pongpol saw Copenhagen’s Wholesale Market for Fruit and Vegetable, an ecological
wholesale company Bio-Dania and a Danish supermarket chain, lrma, which is based on cooperative principles.
During this tour, the Thai Minister was shown a selection of the fruits, vegetables and chicken imported from Thailand.
The Minister for Agriculture mentioned toThai-Danish Trade News, that from the visit he takes home with him some new ideas about cooling and freezing storage facilities to create a more modern collection and distribution system serving the Thai farmers produce..
Following the visit of the wholesale market and the retail-chain the Minister and his delegation visited the Agricultural Council of Denmark as well as Danish Bacon & Meat Council at Axelborg in Copenhagen. Here the delegation were introduced to the principles and practises of the Danish cooperative
slaughterhouses.
According to the Minister, Thailand is in the coming years in need of upgrading and modernising its slaughter houses facilities, so the delegation appreciated the opportunity to discuss the issues with the Danish Bacon & Meat Council.
A full day was devoted to the Danish Forest and Nature Agency, DANCED, and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency under the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy. During the day, the Thai delegation and their Danish hosts discussed topics like Natural Forests, Sustainable Forest management, Forest and Recreation and Costal Zone Management.
The parties also talked about developing a Western Nature and Wildlife Park Complex Theme in Thailand, a conglomerate of 17 National Parks in Western Thailand along the Burmese border which the Thai Minister hoped to some degree could be formed together.
The remaining of that day was spend at the State Forest Tree Improvement Station and at the Danida Forest Seed Centre North of Copenhagen, both having a long term cooperation with Thailand, and the visit ended with a drive in horse-drawn carriages in the Deer Park North of Copenhagen, where the Danish Summer with a gesture of hospitality provided some unusual warm and sunny weather for its Thai visitors.
