ASEAN lawmakers, attending the 25th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO), on Thursday urged relatively developed member countries to help new members of the organization to improve their productivity in the agricultural sector.

In a joint communique, the richer ASEAN member countries were urged to help the new members to improve farm productivity through scientific cooperation and human resources development, as well as to improve access and exchanging knowledge along with modern techniques of agricultural production.

The new ASEAN members were mainly agrarian with the majority of their population living in rural areas, and that most of these people were smallholders "who are currently under-utilizing agricultural resources."

The document said that promoting technology, reform and investment in agriculture would enhance intensification and diversification towards high-value crops and high-yielding production. "As long as low value-added growth remains, inequality and chronic poverty for the rural poor will persist," it stressed.

The communique was also signed by heads of AIPO's special observer delegations from Brunei and Myanmar.

Some lawmakers from outside ASEAN, including China, Japan and South Korea, also attended the four-day assembly as observers during Sept. 13-16.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2004)