The President of Ireland, Mr. Michael D Higgins and Mrs. Sabina Higgins were honoured at a lunch reception today hosted by Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board and Enterprise Ireland on Thursday December 11th in Shanghai, during the President's State Visit to China.
President Higgins spoke to an audience of over 120 government officials, key importers, distributors, retailers and professionals from the food and beverage industry in China. The specially prepared lunch would he said provide Chinese guests with the opportunity to explore Ireland's strengths as a food-producing island and facilitate important conversations "which would be informed by perhaps the most important question facing the world today – how we can meet our current resource needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs".
He identified the role of farmers in enabling a distribution of employment across the national territory and fostering thriving rural communities and encouraged decision makers to pursue policies that are robustly supportive of farming, of rural development and of the agri-food sector. He said everybody needs to find sustainable ways of feeding our cities with food that is good, nutritious, and safe for human health, adding that farming and sustainable food production is as important an issue on the agenda of China as it is on Ireland's.
In this regard President Higgins pointed to Bord Bia's Origin Green initiative which is a world first in providing a national sustainability development programme. For Irish farmers, being part of the Origin Green Programme entails taking active steps to improve the environmental performance of their farm, and submitting to regular audits to ensure progress is being made. For food businesses, Origin Green means improving performances in areas such as sourcing, manufacturing and social responsibility. "For communities it means that we are ensuring that our rural heritage and resources are protected and preserved for future generations", he said.
He concluded that the strategic agri-food partnership between Ireland and China will greatly benefit from Origin Green and the expertise of Ireland's world class food technology companies, in areas such as nutrient animal feed, the enhancement crop yields in cold, northern environments, or the advancement of software for the management, preservation and distribution of fresh food.
Aidan Cotter, CEO of Bord Bia outlined the considerable progress in Ireland's exports to China. "Irish food and drink exports have more than doubled over the last three years reaching over €400m, it is our second largest market for dairy products, out third largest for pork and our seafood sector is now also well established as a premium supplier particularly in the shellfish sector".
He added that as one of the world's largest net exporters of beef, Ireland represents an ideal partner for China. This week's visit to Ireland from officials of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) is a further positive step in the procedure to see Irish beef exports re-commence trade with China.
The lunch menu included Irish salmon and specially prepared Kerrygold cheese as well as a range of farmhouse cheeses and handmade chocolates. Ireland's Food industry was strongly represented at the event by major beef, pork, dairy and seafood sectors, including ABP, Rosderra, Jade, Kerrry Plc and Glanbia.