The 65th APRACA Executive Meeting was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on December 2, 2014, hosted by Bank of Ceylon. Seventeen Members of APRACA Executive Committee including APRACA Chairman and Vice-Chairman, General Secretary and 14 Ex-com members from Bangladesh BRAC; National Bank of Cambodia; Agricultural Development Bank of China; India National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development; Bank Indonesia; Bank Keshavarzi of Iran; Japan JFC; National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of Republic of Korea; Bank Pertanian Malaysia; Agricultural Credit Policy Council of the Philippines; State Bank of Pakistan; Bank of Ceylon; Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives of Thailand; Agro-bank of Uzbekistan; and Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development attended the meeting.
In the five-hour Excom Meeting, the members reviewed the 12-item agenda including (1) the approval of the minutes of the 64th APRACA Executive Committee Meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2) actions taken on the main resolutions and notations of the 19th GA and the 64th EXCOM meetings, (3) APRACA activities and the financial operations as well as the costs and expenditures of APRACA activities (4) review of APRACA Biennium Work Plan 2015-2016, (5) launching of the new ACE (ACE-BK on women empowerment in Bank Keshavarzi, Iran) (6) draft membership increase plan, (7) draft funding plan, (8) draft APRACA service improvement plan, (9) draft APRACA secretariat reform plan, (10) implementation of APRACA Strategic Plan 2013-2016, (11) confirmation of venue and date of the 66th Executive Committee Meeting, and (12) some other matters.
The review on financial status of APRACA and costs and expenditures incurred in 2013-2014 was one of the important items of the agenda which was highlighted during the meeting. The balance sheet, cash flow statement and income and expenditure statement of the association including items such as current assets, liabilities, accumulated fund, operating fund, excess of income over Expenditure, grants and earnings, and administrative expenses, were thoroughly discussed and studied by the members.
For the fifth agenda of the meeting, Dr. Arghavan farzin Mo'tamed, Head of ACE-BK on Women Empowerment and Manager of International Cooperation Department, Bank Keshavarzi, outlines the activities and initiatives taken so far in APRACA-BK Center of Excellence. Before Dr. Farzin's report and for the first time in the history of APRACA Ex-com meetings, a video report was played in the meeting venue focusing on the establishment of the center and activities conducted in the first year of the operation such as holding of international workshops and publication works.
A message from Dr. Shahdizadeh, the new Chairman and CEO of Bank Keshavarzi, was read to Excom Meeting by APRACA chairman. In his letter, Dr. Shahidzadeh, expressing his delight for having an opportunity to greet members and management of APRACA, reiterated that Bank Keshavarzi would continue its support to APRACA and the secretariat could still rely on the bank's contribution. He then stressed on the fact that active participation by the members and effective implementation of the strategic plan would help APRACA achieve its goals and objectives. Dr. Shahdizadeh wished for closer cooperation, further interaction, and successful implementation of the APRACA strategic plan for 2013-2018 in his support letter to APRACA.
