BIZ BUZZ: From Rome with love for agri

It appears that the Philippine delegation in Rome made great strides in forging agricultural collaborations with some countries.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. recently led a local delegation to the World Food Forum held in the capital city of Italy, hoping to advance the Philippine agriculture sector through bilateral partnerships.

This trip came at a time when the farm sector is grappling with the devastation caused by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami).

The first collaboration is with Italy wherein Tiu Laurel and Italian Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida agreed to strengthen their agricultural cooperation.

The renewed partnership zeroes in on expanding the country’s agricultural exports to Italy, tapping Filipino fisherfolk to work in the European country and investing in modernizing the Philippine agriculture sector.

Both countries likewise agreed to draft a memorandum of agreement to bolster productivity and agro-industrialization in the archipelago.

Another cooperation is between Tiu Laurel and Linkham Douangsavanh, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, as they would create a framework aimed at resolving various agricultural issues. It was targeted to be signed by next year.

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The Philippines and Laos would work on several initiatives including developing a joint genetic bank for rice development, improving value chains for various agricultural products, adopting best practices for efficient water use and boosting trade between the two nations or within regions.

Currently, the Philippine delegation is in Washington, D.C. to participate in the World Bank’s 2024 annual meetings.

We are hopeful that these back-to-back overseas engagements will deliver the much-needed news for the agriculture sector. Any positive outcome, may it be big or small, can make a big difference in the sector still recovering from the El Niño-induced dry spell and weather disturbances that have hit the country.