The World Potato Congress is pleased to announce the success of the fourth World Potato Congress. Six hundred delegates from potato growing regions around the world gathered in Amsterdam, September 4 to 6, to meet and discuss key issues, trends and developments around the global potato industry.
A number of delegates representing the Government of Prince Edward Island and the Prince Edward Island potato industry participated in this global event. Agriculture and Forestry Minister Mitch Murphy, who represented the provincial government, said the World Potato Congress is important to Prince Edward Island from a number of perspectives.
"First of all, the World Potato Congress Inc is something that started on Prince Edward Island and we are proud that the headquarters is here in Charlottetown. I am pleased that my Department, through the Solanum PEI initiative, is able to contribute to helping organize this and future congresses," he said. "Now that the congress has developed a solid reputation in the world potato community, there are a number of organizations and countries looking to become involved. Where Prince Edward Island is a player in the global potato industry, it is positive for us to be proactively involved. This was also an excellent opportunity to discover some key trends in the potato world that will have an impact on our local industry."
During the Congress, Minister for Foreign Trade of The Netherlands, Mr. G. Ybema presented citations and plaques to the five recipients of the World Potato Congress Industry Award. "It has become one of the important traditions of the Congress that recognition is given to those people who have dedicated time and effort to the growth and development of the global potato industry," said World Potato Congress President Lloyd Palmer of Prince Edward Island. Nominated by an international group of their peers, Jan Frans Binst (Belgium), Kees van Loon (The Netherlands), Robert L. Mercer (United States of America), John Hillman (Scotland) and Luis Matutano (Spain) were all presented with awards at the opening ceremonies.
Also during the congress, an informal meeting of potato grower representatives from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, the United States, Argentina and Finland met to discuss a range of common interests and issues, including the reduction of trade barriers and the need to establish a closer communications network.
Mr. Palmer announced that the next World Potato Congress to be held in 2003 will be hosted in Yunnan Province, Kunming China. "We are delighted that potato representatives from China have come forward with a proposal to host the next Congress, and we are looking forward to working closely with the host committee to organize this event," he said. "As the largest producing country in the world where the potato is still in the developmental stage, Yunnan Province of China will create a fascinating venue for our next Congress."