The Sixth General Assembly (GA) of the International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 5-6 August 2015, a day after the 5th International Symposium on “Sustainable Production and Marketing of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits with Focus on Potential Superfruits”.
Eight Country Members, two associate members, two expert members, and eleven observers attended the Assembly. Observers included representatives from the Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO), Biodiversity International, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and the Malaysian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. Senior Economist Kaison Chang who is also a Board member, represented the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The TFNet Secretariat provided support and documentation for the Assembly.
The Genaral Assembly was officiated and chaired by Dr. H.M.S. Heenkenda, the Additional Secretary for the Sri Lanka Ministry of Agriculture. The Vice Chairpersons of the General Assembly were Mr. Bob Williams of Australia and Dr. Baldreldin Elhassan of Sudan.
TFNet CEO Dr. Mohd Desa Haji Hassim presented the 2012-2015 progress report, 2015-2020 strategic plan, and the proposed constitutional amendments, opening up the discussion on issues ranging from increasing membership, financial sustainability, corporate communication, products and services, and capacity building.
In the election of new TFNet Board of Trustees (BOT) for 2015-2018, Malaysia retained the Chairperson position, while China and Bangladesh were appointed as Vice-Chairpersons. The elected associate members for 2015-2018 are Crops for the Future Research Centre (CFFRC) and the Asian and African Rural Development Organization (AARDO). Finally, the expert members elected to the BOT are Dr. Hannah Jaenicke and Mr. Yacob Ahmad.
The constitutional amendments that were passed are:
- The country that hosts TFNet is a permanent member of the Board of Trustees
- Country members pay a one-time registration fee of USD 5,000 and an annual membership fee of USD 2,000.
- The Board of Trustees shall be comprised of all country members. When country membership achieves a critical mass of 20 members, the BOT shall be reduced to 7 members.
The BOT nominated the Philippines to host the next Board of Trustees meeting in 2016, Fiji or Bangladesh in 2017, and Sudan in 2018.
