AQD holds strategic planning and review meeting

Starting 2011, AQD will steer into new directions as outlined during the In-house strategic planning and review conducted September 28-30 at AQD’s main station in Iloilo.

AQD Chief Dr. Joebert Toledo emphasized that AQD will shift from taking on a commodity-based approach to adopting a thematic approach, specifically, having program themes based on the Regional technical consultation on aquaculture (RTC) held in March 2010.

In order to come up with a modified five-year strategic plan (2012-2015), AQD senior staff discussed in plenary and small-group workshops the harmonization of the 2009-2012 strategic plans with the five RTC themes. They also determined major gaps in current technologies, suggested priority R & D areas (i.e., research and information-education-communication), made action plans, and identified potential collaborations.

The RTC themes are: (1) meeting social and economic challenges; (2) supply of good quality seeds; (3) healthy and wholesome aquaculture; (4) maintaining environmental integrity through responsible aquaculture; (5) adapting to climate change.

The Chief noted that although there are many proposed plans of action, issues on limited financial and human resources remain. “Let us consider these constraints as a challenge... Being a dynamic institution, AQD needs to be always at the forefront of any development, which is in line with AQD’s vision, and that is, to be a global leader in the generation of science-based technologies.” Thanking the staff for their active participation, the Chief encouraged everyone to “move together, move forward and work together, and bring a good future for AQD.”