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1. Introduction
As agreed at the 34th National RCA Representatives Meeting (NRM) held on 17-20 April 2012 in Beijing, China, the RCARO Workshop on “Enhancing Strategic Goals of RCARO” was held on 10-12 July 2012 at the Ramada Hotel, Jeju, Republic of Korea. Participants included: the SAC members from CPR, INS and ROK; NRs of Bangladesh, Mongolia; four (4) experts from RCA Member States (MSs); and 10 representatives from ROK, including representatives from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST), the Korean Nuclear International Cooperation Foundation (KNICOF) as well as a number of Korean Institutes and Organisations and RCARO. A list of the participants is given in Annex 1. (Note: all annexes referred to hereafter are posted on the RCA website 1. Introduction www.rcaro.org). This Workshop was the fifth of its kind organized by RCARO, since the first one in 2005.
2. Opening Session
2.1 Welcome Remarks by Dr. Mun-Ki Lee, Director, RCARO
Dr. Mun-Ki Lee, Dir-RCARO, warmly welcomed all the participants and thanked them for attending the Workshop in spite of their busy schedules. He emphasized that the purpose of the Workshop was to review and evaluate the strategic goals of the RCARO for its sustainable development in the medium and long term. He also noted that the conclusions and recommendations from this Workshop would assist in further strengthening the operations of the RCARO. The Opening Remarks by the Dir-RCARO are given as Annex 2.
2.2 Congratulatory Remarks by Mr. Kyung-Won Roh, Director General, MEST
On behalf of the Government of Republic of Korea, Mr. Kyung-Won ROH gave congratulatory remarks and welcomed the participants. (Annex 3)
He noted that the RCA was perceived as having the best practices as well as the international benchmark for regional cooperative agreements, among other regional agreements. This status had been achieved through valuable cooperation among MSs, IAEA and RCARO. He commented that the successful operation performance of the RCARO together with the great demand from the MSs for measures to retain and use nuclear science and technology in the region, could enable the RCARO to take on more initiatives to assist the RCA, such as, project planning, project management and project evaluation. Further he noted that the Government of the Republic of Korea, as its host country, would consider financial support of this if needed. He thanked those who had been involved in the preparation of the Workshop and wished that the Workshop would be a great success.
2.3 Remarks by Dr. Dongxin Feng, RCA Chair
On behalf of the RCA MSs, Dr. Dongxin Feng, current RCA Chair, welcomed all the participants attending the Workshop.(Annex 4) Dr. Feng expressed her sincere congratulation at the opening of the workshop and extended her warm welcome to all the participants. She valued the activities that RCARO carried out in the past years and underlined the objectives of the workshop. She anticipated that the participants are at liberty to say what they like and hence to reach the goals of the workshop. She thanked the RCARO’s efforts in organizing the meeting and wished the workshop a great success.
2.4 Introduction to the Workshop
Mr. In-Seok Oh, Head, Programme Division, RCARO, briefed the Workshop and reviewed the agenda items. The Workshop was informed that Session Chairs would be:
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Session 1 - Mr. Anhar Riza Antariksawan |
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Session 2 - Dr. Prinath Dias, and |
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Session 3 - Dr. Dongxin Feng |
Ms. Hyunkyoung Jeon and Ms. Soo Youn Hwang agreed to serve as rapporteurs. The Workshop Prospectus and Programme are given in Annexes 5 and 6.
3. Session 1 – Review and Evaluation of RCARO Activities
Mr. Anhar Riza Antariksawan chaired this Session.
During the discussions there was a general appreciation of the successful implementation by the RCARO of the various areas under its mandate. In particular, these included promotional activities such as: publication of RCA Success Stories and RCA brochures; establishing the RCA database and website; producing the RCA Promotional Video; participating international events; promoting partnerships with other organisations; and, activities to support the preservation of nuclear knowledge.
The Workshop endorsed the approach used by the RCARO for its promotional activities, the promoting of partnerships with the RCA and Nuclear Knowledge Preservation activities.
3.1 Promotional Activities
Ms. Soo Youn Hwang, Project Officer, Programme Division, RCARO gave a presentation entitled “Promotional Activities of RCARO” (Annex 7). This covered the following topics:
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Background |
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RCARO Promotional Activities |
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- Publication of RCA Success Stories
- Operation of RCA Website
- Updating RCA Promotional Video
- Participation in International Events |
The Workshop noted difficulties being experienced by RCARO in particular communications with LCCs and NPCs and NRs for RCA Success Stories (SS). A solution to this problem could be the use of an expert who has demonstrated an ability to produce SSs that would be suitable for the target audience including the public. This would overcome problems in differences of writing ability and style that have been experienced with contributions from the LCCs and NPCs. In addition, it was suggested that there could be benefit from this expert attending the final Project Review Meeting to ensure that all the latest information could be incorporated in the SS.
Concerning the selection of projects to be written up as SSs, it was agreed that the responsibilities for this lie with the NRs and they should suggest and agree these at an NRM. The NRs should provide some outline of the aspects that support the project being identified as a success.
There was discussion on other mechanisms to reach and inform particular end-user groups, for example, Dr. Machi encouraged the use of executive management seminars, which had been used successfully in previous RCA projects. Dr. Easey suggested that the use of the social media networks might enable access to a new range of potential end-users and interested parties.
It was seen to be important for the RCA website to be accessible in all the MSs. As a mechanism to assist in increasing the visibility of the RCA website, the meeting suggested that a request be made for RCA MSs to have their National websites for their nuclear institutions to include a link to RCA website. Dr. Anhar noted that the MSs have the responsibility for contents of the RCA website.
Dr. Dias mentioned that he would like to have each project with a separate page on the website, which would then facilitate MSs access to information. Dr. LEE advised that this had been achieved.
Dr. Easey suggested that the RCARO should try to learn more about the people and organisations accessing the RCA website. It was suggested that this could be achieved by collecting detailed statistical information about the users. With such information it would be possible to concentrate efforts on follow up with particular key users such as large users and small users. This analysis would enable the RCARO to gain better understanding of the reasons for high use and low use and apply this information to assist in upgrading the RCARO’s impact and outreach.
Dr. Easey suggested that the RCARO consider the use of technical experts, where possible, as part of the RCARO promotional team when they attend International Conferences. Dr. LEE mentioned that the RCARO budget was quite limited and it might not be possible to implement this suggestion for all visits. Dr. Easey suggested that MSs might be able to provide a suitable expert when the RCARO promotional team was attending an event in a MS.
3.2 Promoting Partnerships for RCA
Dr. In-Seok Oh, Head, Programme Division, RCARO, delivered a presentation entitled “Promoting Partnerships for RCA” (Annex 8) with a focus on:
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Background of the RCA Partnerships; |
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Partnership Activities of the RCARO; |
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Problems and Issues. |
Following the general discussions, the Workshop noted the importance of building up and maintaining a database on donor organisations. This database would be potentially suitable for the support of actions to promote RCA projects and encourage additional extra budgetary contribution. Dr. Dias agreed that the RCARO should be involved with MSs when they are developing RCA projects designs which involve the potential collaboration with UN based organizations. This would facilitate on-going contact with these organisations and promote understanding of the central role of the RCARO in project partnerships. In addition, it would 5 be beneficial to adopt a strategic approach by encouraging partnerships with other organisations through the promotion of the use of nuclear techniques that can help in the solution of problems rather than the promotion of the use of individual nuclear techniques. Dr. Dias advised the Workshop about his previous experience in looking at the possibilities of using RCA expertise as part of a large project being implemented in Sri Lanka. As result of this, he suggested that the RCARO should look into niche opportunities for the use of nuclear technologies that could contribute to the achievement of the objectives of a larger project.
Dr. Feng suggested that the RCA should assess whether there are additional potential donor organisations that might be potential partners. This group should be approached and additionally the RCARO should also include special organisations that are concerned with specific areas such as agriculture.
3.3 Preservation of Nuclear Knowledge
Ms. Hyunkyoung Jeon, Deputy Head, Programme Division, RCARO, made a presentation entitled “Preservation of Nuclear Knowledge” (Annex 9) and provided detailed information on the following programmes:
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Temp Staff Fellowship Programme |
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RCARO/KAIST Master’s Degree Course |
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RCARO/KAERI Regional Training Workshop |
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Joint Training Programme with ARCCNM |
Dr. Dias suggested that the RCARO should continue to use the Fellowship Programme to help MSs to gain a working knowledge of the RCA. He emphasised that importance of including the RCA Guidelines and Operating Rules and Midterm Strategy 2012-2017 as essential part of their learning experience. He went on to encourage the RCARO to give priority for fellowships to new MSs. The Workshop discussed the point raised in the presentation concerning the RCARO/KAIST Master’s Degree Course. As a number of participants mentioned, there appeared to be a number of options concerning the Master’s curriculum. However, it was not clear whether those undertaking courses under this RCARO programme were choosing options that were compatible with the RCA Medium Term Priorities. The RCARO was requested to examine the scope of the Master’s Degree Course to ensure that it was compatible with the RCA Medium Term Priorities.
Concerning the RCARO/KAERI regional training workshops, the Workshop encouraged the RCARO to ensure that the subjects of the training were compatible with the RCA Medium Term Priorities and if necessary undertake fine tuning of the curriculum to bring it into line with the priorities. The Workshop assessed the ARCCNM joint training programmes as meeting the RCA Medium Term Priorities and encouraged the RCARO to continue with them as they were a very useful contribution to the RCA programme.
Dr. Dias proposed that the RCARO should be a repository for materials used in RCA training courses.
3.4. Conclusions and Recommendations
The following are the agreed conclusions and recommendations from this session:
Conclusions
| The RCARO has successfully implemented its mandates over the last ten years through its various programs including promotional activities such as: publication of RCA Success Stories and RCA brochures; establishing the RCA database and website; producing the RCA Promotional Video; participating international events; promoting partnerships with other organisations; and, activities to support the preservation of nuclear knowledge. The Workshop endorsed the approach used by the RCARO for its promotional activities, the promoting of partnerships with the RCA and Nuclear Knowledge Preservation activities. |
Recommendations to the RCARO
Promotional Activities of RCARO
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To prepare the RCA Success Stories based on the subjects that are proposed by the RCA MSs at an NRM. |
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To facilitate the preparation of RCA Success Stories, the RCARO could support the recruitment of an expert. |
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To try to achieve higher impact and recognition of RCA Success Stories with potential end-users through the use of social media networks. |
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To encourage, where possible, the use of Executive Management Seminars to promote the social economic impacts of the RCA projects to end-user groups. |
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To request RCA MSs to have their National websites for their nuclear institutions include a link to RCA website. |
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To collect more detailed statistical information about the users of the RCA website so that it might be possible to concentrate efforts on follow up with large users and small users to gain better understanding of the reasons for high use and low use and apply this information to assist in upgrading the RCARO’s impact and outreach. |
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To use technical experts, where possible, as part of the RCARO promotional team when they attend International Conferences. |
Promoting Partnerships for RCA
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To build up and maintain a database on donor organisations which are potentially suitable for support of RCA projects. |
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To be involved in the development of RCA projects designs which involve the potential collaboration with UN based organizations. This would facilitate on-going contact with these organisations and promote understanding of the central role of the RCARO in project partnerships. |
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To adopt a strategic approach by encouraging partnerships with other organisations through the promotion of the use of nuclear techniques to solve problems rather than the promotion of the use of individual nuclear techniques. |
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To assess whether there is an additional range of potential donor organisations that should be approached. This group could include specialist organisations that are concerned with specific areas. |
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To look into niche opportunities for the use of nuclear technologies that could contribute to the achievement of the objectives of a larger project. |
Nuclear knowledge preservation
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To continue to use the Fellowship Programme to help MSs to gain a working knowledge of the RCA, including the RCA GOR and MTS, and give priority to new MSs. |
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To examine the scope of the Master’s Degree Course to ensure that it was compatible with the RCA Medium Term Priorities. |
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To ensure that the topics covered in the RCARO/KAERI regional training workshops were fine-tuned and were compatible with the RCA Medium Term Priorities. |
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To continue with the ARCCNM joint training programmes. |
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To be a repository for materials used in RCA training courses. |
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4. Session 2 – Future Directions to contribute to the Sustainable Development of RCA
Dr. Prinath Dias chaired Session 2.
At the request of Dr. Dias, the recommendations from 2010 Workshop were reviewed to ascertain their status.
Each of the recommendations was reviewed by the Workshop and only one required on-going attention. This related to the suggestion that the RCARO should consider making extended use of experts from MSs to assist RCARO in its activities.
4.1 Future Directions of the RCARO
At the invitation of the Chair, Dr. In-Seok Oh gave a presentation entitled “Future Directions of the RCARO” (Annex 10), which dealt with:
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Introduction |
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Strength |
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Weakness |
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Future Directions of RCARO |
There was strong support from the Korean participants of the Workshop to the segment of Dr. OH’s presentation concerning the recognition of the legal status of the RCARO. Participants from Australia, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia all gave illustrations of difficulties that were being experienced in their countries concerning the progress of this topic.
Dr. Dias commented that the current RCA Agreement had a number of areas where revision of the articles could be made if there were sufficient interest by the RCA MSs. This could be a good opportunity to deal with this matter. He suggested that the RCARO SAC should initiate appropriate actions that might help provide the RCARO with the legal status it requires to carry out its mandate effectively.
Dr. Easey suggested that the RCARO could help in the problem of turnover of senior staff if they instituted a succession plan to help in ensuring a smooth transition of responsibilities.
4.2 Future Role of RCARO and Expanded Participation of RCA Experts in the RCA/RCARO Activities
Dr. John Easey, former RCA Coordinator, gave a presentation entitled “A Future Role of the RCARO?” (Annex 11). He reviewed a number of aspects of the tasks that the RCARO could take on in the future.
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IAEA’s Support and Roles for the RCA Programme |
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Potential Weakness and Vulnerabilities for MSs in the RCA structure |
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Analysis of the RCA FP Contribution |
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Current Roles & Responsibilities of the RCARO |
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Examples of activities that could be undertaken by the RCARO |
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Upgrading of an RCARO Initiative by including the participation of one or more RCA Experts |
There was a general discussion on the major points of the presentation. Dr. Easey emphasised that he had developed the themes in his presentation as a result of the changes which were currently occurring in the role of RCA Focal Person. The changes he was proposing were trying to preserve and in cases increase the level of administrative support to the MSs that had come previously from the RCA Coordinator / Focal Person.
Dr. Sueo Machi noted that the RCA had the strong linkages with the IAEA and that any changes in the relative roles and responsibilities needed to be handled carefully and there should be thorough discussions between the RCA and the IAEA to ensure that any changes would not cause any disruptions in relationship. He proposed that the RCARO SAC should initiate consultations with the IAEA. The main objective should be to reach an understanding with them about the IAEA and RCA FP’s roles and responsibilities with regards to the RCA programme. This should then be followed up by trying to identify where the RCARO might take on additional responsibilities regarding the management of the RCA programme.
Dr. Dias provided comments concerning the changing role of the RCA Coordinator / Focal Person during his period in the Technical Cooperation Department. He also detailed some of the actions he had undertaken as part of the efforts to enhance MSs role in accepting more responsibilities for the RCA programme and playing an increasingly active role in decision making and the development of policies. He also noted that there were still areas where the MSs could be more active and further efforts should be made to increase their level of contribution.
4.3 Conclusions and Recommendations
The Workshop made the following conclusions and recommendations concerning matters raised during this session:
Review of the Recommendations from the 2010 Workshop
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The RCARO should consider making extended use of experts from MSs to assist RCARO in its activities. |
Recommendations to the RCARO
Future Directions of RCARO
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The MSs should consider incorporating a revision related to the RCARO when considering any other future revisions of the RCA agreement. |
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The RCARO SAC should initiate appropriate actions to provide the RCARO with the legal status it requires to carry out its mandate effectively. |
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RCARO should have a succession plan to ensure smooth transfer of responsibilities of senior personnel. |
Future Role of the RCARO
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The RCARO SAC should initiate consultations with the IAEA with the objective of reaching an understanding on the IAEA and RCA FP’s roles and responsibilities to the RCA programme with the objective of identifying further responsibilities that the RCARO might undertake regarding managing the RCA programme. |
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5. Session 3 – Current Issues
Dr. Dongxin Feng chaired Session 3.
This Session was concerned with the coordination of the thematic areas for the RCA projects and preparation of the RCA 40th anniversary exhibition. There was extensive general discussion on various points.
5.1 Coordination of the Thematic Areas for the RCA Projects
Dr. John Easey, former RCA Coordinator, delivered a presentation entitled “Future Plans for Coordinating the RCA Projects by Thematic Areas” (Annex 12).
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Thematic Programme Approach previously used by the RCA |
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The current factors that are influencing a return to a Thematic Programme Approach |
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Advantages, Disadvantages and Expected Effectiveness of Thematic Programme Approach |
There were a number of questions concerning the presentation. Because of some confusion regarding the Thematic Programme Approach and the role that the RCARO could undertake, Dr. Easey provided a detailed explanation of the background. He said that the motivation for his presentation was caused by the changes to the nature of the TC programme in 2014/2015 that was being proposed by the IAEA in early 2012. Of particular concern had been the statement in the Guidelines issued by the IAEA that each regional programme was going to be limited to only 10 to 15 projects as part of a move to increase the impact of TC projects.
He reminded the Workshop that the TC Asia Pacific Division had three types of regional projects; those supporting the RCA programme, those supporting the ARASIA programme and the non-Agreement projects. He had concluded that it was unlikely that the RCA would have more than five projects and so he set about devising a strategy that would enable the RCA to preserve the 12 projects that would be continuing from the 2012/2013 programme in to 2014 and the 5 that would go into 2015. In addition he also wanted this strategy to be able to introduce some additional projects being proposed for 2014/2015 by the MSs. His solution 10 had been to consolidate all the projects into the four thematic areas which would then be compatible with the IAEA Guideline requirements on project numbers.
This proposal had been considered by the RCA NRM in Beijing and there was support from a number of delegations. However there was not a consensus to support this move for the 2014/2015 programme. Nevertheless there was strong support from the NRM for the move to thematic programming and in particular whether the RCARO could play a part in Thematic Sector coordination and management.
Dr. Machi noted that the IAEA Scientific Fora looked at things from a thematic perspective and that the RCA should look at this approach as a template for any moves to adopt a thematic programme approach.
Dr Mun-Ki Lee agreed with the basic concept of undertaking the thematic sector coordination but would need to examine the exact nature of the role that the RCARO would be asked to perform. He noted that the RCARO had very limited capacity to have any involvement in any technical matters related to the project. Dr Easey identified a number of very important areas where the RCARO could provide management and coordination support for a thematic project and also noted that involvement in the technical aspect would not be a requirement.
5.2. Preparation of the RCA 40th Anniversary Exhibition
Ms. Hyunkyoung Jeon, Deputy Head, Programme Division, RCARO, made a presentation entitled “Exhibition of the 40th Anniversary of RCA” (Annex 13), which dealt with:
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Outline of the Exhibition |
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Design Sketch of the Exhibition space |
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Suggestions of options for the exhibition posters |
The Workshop was briefed on the actions undertaken by the RCARO and the RCA Chair. They all have had difficulties in getting responses from the LCCs and NRs. The Workshop suggested that the RCARO should contact the related MSs stakeholders again and request that they provide information on sample products that they can make available as well as some input on the contents to be displayed on the panels.
5.3. Conclusions and Recommendations
The following conclusions and recommendations were agreed by the Workshop:
Conclusions:
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The Workshop recognised with appreciation the progress made by RCARO in the preparation of the 40th Anniversary of RCA exhibition and noted that there had been a lack of response from those contacted in the MSs concerning the preparation of the exhibition. |
Recommendations to the RCARO
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To consider providing project management support for the RCA programme if the thematic approach is adopted in the future. |
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To contact the related MSs stakeholders again and request that they provide information on 11 sample products that they can make available as well as some input on the contents materials to be displayed on the panels. |
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In addition to the conclusions and recommendations detailed above, the Workshop recommended that the RCARO report on the status of the implementation of the recommendations made at this Workshop so that these can be reviewed at future Workshop.
6. Closing
The Dir-RCARO thanked the participating SAC members, experts, and his staff for their efforts in achieving a very successful outcome from this Workshop, and he wished everyone a safe homeward journey and looked forward to continuing contact and cooperation. |
