PH, Myanmar ink agri deal
THE Philippines and Myanmar are now working to strengthen each other’s farm sectors, particularly improving fisheries production, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
The DA said the department, led by Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations and Agri-fishery Mechanization Ariel T. Cayanan, and its Myanmar delegation counterpart, headed by Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI) Hla Kyaw, held late last month their first meeting on the Philippines-Myanmar Joint Committee on Agriculture (JCA).
The Philippines “proposed collaborative activities on fisheries including its interest to land fishery products from the Indian Ocean and establish fisheries processing facilities in Myanmar,” the DA said.
It added that the collaboration would be a “win-win” situation, as the country has a “good track record” in fighting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF) and is a beneficiary of European Union (EU) Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).
Under the deal, the Philippines and Myanmar will initiate work in the agreed collaborative activities in the span of two years.
The DA said the country has expressed its intention to invest in Myanmar which was received favorably. Myanmar, for its part, informed the DA that priority areas are on cold chain and fish processing.
“Myanmar presented six work plans and training proposals for collaboration with the Philippines in the field of food processing and value-adding, brood stock management of shrimp, seed sector development, buffalo breeding, pasture development and agricultural machinery,” the DA said.
Furthermore, the country has proposed a working visit on mungbean production and reiterated its intent to export day old chicks, meat, meat products and shallots to Myanmar.
Myanmar is known to be an agricultural country. Its agriculture sector is considered as the backbone of its economy.
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