<p>GFAR Chair Raj Paroda welcomed all stakeholders present at the meeting. Referring to the NARS Committee meeting held the previous day, he highlighted the need to strengthen the role of the NARS Committee and the importance of advancing inter-regional activities. He acknowledged the GFAR Secretariat for being able to handle very well the transition phase of GFAR and called for a more enhanced interaction of the secretariats of both GFAR and the regional/sub-regional fora. He then introduced and welcomed the incoming GFAR Executive Secretary, Dr. Ola Smith.

Considering that the period since October 1999 was very intense with the preparation of the
GFAR-2000 Conference and important discussions regarding organizational changes, the GFAR
Chairman decided to organize, prior to GFAR-2000, an informal working dinner. The formal 7th
meeting of the GFAR Steering Committee took place after GFAR-2000.

<p>The GFAR Steering Committee met for the 6th time in Washington on October 24, 1999 in a closed session only contrary to previous meetings. Indeed, it had been decided that the GFAR open session that usually precedes the closed session, should this time be part of the NARS Steering Committee meeting agenda in order to get an opportunity to regional fora to present their on-going activities as well as the contribution they were preparing for GFAR-2000.

The Global Forum on Agricultural Research Steering Committee (GFAR-SC) held its fifth
meeting in Beijing on the 23rd of May 1999. The meeting was chaired by Dr. R. S. Paroda. In the
morning, the meeting was open to a large range of observers with the objective to allow a broad
interaction with the GFAR community members. The afternoon was devoted to decision process
in a camera session.
The agenda of the open session was entirely devoted to a proactive discussion of the preparation