BIOTROP Governing Board favorably acted upon the 14 working papers discussed during its 52nd meeting held on 23-25 September 2014 in Hanoi, Vietnam.  The meeting was officially opened by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Hung, Acting Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, representing the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam.

The Governing Board acknowledged the updates in the SEAMEO BIOTROP Governing Board membership, Education Ministers and High Officials of SEAMEO member countries, SEAMEO BIOTROP Personnel, and SEAMEO Centre Directors, follow-up actions taken by the Centre on the decisions and recommendations from the 51st BIOTROP Governing Board Meeting, agreements of the 2014 Centre Directors’ Meeting, progress report on BIOTROP’s Special Initiatives,  final arrangements on the Regional Training on Prevention and Control of Mycotoxin Contamination in Food and Feedstuff in Collaboration with the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, and  preparations for the Centre’s participation in SEAMEO’s 50th Year Anniversary Celebration.  It also approved the Centre’s audited financial report and for FY 2013/2014, three-year budget for FY 2013/2014, 2014/2015 and 2015/2016, proposed amendments on the Centre’s Staff Rules and Regulations, proposed research and training activities for 2015, and the  concept note for BIOTROP’s Second International Conference on Tropical Biology.

The meeting was highlighted by the Board’s decision to appoint Dr. Irdika Mansur, the Centre’s current Deputy Director for Resource Management, as the incoming Centre Director starting 1 January 2015.  It was also a fitting occasion to honor Dr. Bambang Purwantara as the outgoing Centre Director by 31 December 2014 and to acknowledge the leadership SEAMEO Secretariat Director Dr. Wittaya  Jeradechakul who is ending his term by March 2015.

Present during the meeting were eight (8) Governing Board (GB) members from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and a representative from Lao PDR. Myanmar and Timor Leste were not represented during the meeting since their respective Ministries of Education have not appointed any representative yet. Four ambassadors to Vietnam, namely from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand also graced the opening program.