Agriculture Secretary William Dar emphasized the need for the Philippines to undertake a unified export development study that would help make the agriculture sector more competitive.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said there are only two agricultural export products from the Philippines that amounted to $1 billion or more annually.
In a meeting with the US-Asean Business Council in Brunei Darussalam, Dar said these products are bananas and coconut oil.
“There are products now that are below US$500 million category and we want to elevate them so that they can go to the next level,” Dar said during the meeting.
The Philippine panel discussed possible areas and priorities for collaboration with the business council, an advocacy group that pushes economic growth and trade ties between the United States and Asean member-states. It is the only US-based organization mentioned in the Asean charter.
Council Senior Vice President for Policy Marc Mealy met with the Philippine panel, accompanied by executives of different companies.
Dar emphasized the need for the Philippines to undertake a unified export development study that would help make the agriculture sector more competitive.
“We are looking at having a common export development study with the Department of Trade and Industry. We need to have a common approach so that we can elevate these products with export potentials. We also need to see to it that there are enough hectarage that can produce volume and quality of export products, [whether] raw or processed,” he added.
Philippine bananas were bought by Japan, China and South Korea in 2018. (Melo M. Acuña)