The 22nd meeting of the AMAF, 26-27 October 2000, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, resolved that: "Regarding the importance of vegetable production in improving the nutrition and income status in ASEAN, the Ministers approved eight projects proposed by the ASEAN-AVRDC Regional Network on Vegetable Research and Development (AARNET)."

The AARNET forum, held at the AVRDC Center in Taiwan last September 2001, is one of the eight projects. The major objective of the forum is to clarify policy and implementation issues related to these projects, and to develop detailed joint proposals for follow-up activities.