The Philippines and France committed to enhance agricultural cooperation and trade.
Ambassador of France to the Philippines Nicolas Galey and Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar recently met to improve agricultural cooperation and trade through implementing administrative arrangement capacity building for cooperatives, dairy, food safety, and intellectual property.
“He would like to see the DA take part in activities to improve agricultural infrastructure, particularly the establishment of food terminals in the country,” Dar stated.
“The development of the Clark-Rungis Wholesale Food Market is ‘a big help’ as it will attract various sectors to invest in agriculture, ” Dar added.
Respectively, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority partnered with French firm SEMMARIS and the Metro Pacific Investments Corp in 2017 to conduct a feasibility study on the development of an international food market in New Clark City in Tarlac.
The partnership aims to link the buyers and sellers of food and agri-products both locally and in the Asian region. This will benefit local farmers for the partnership can create direct market access for them to sell their goods at higher prices, thereby increasing their income.
“The Philippines has a big potential to cater to the French consumers as he expressed support to the DA’s initiatives under a new development framework,” Galey said.
Galey emphasized that the Rungis International Market in Paris, the biggest fresh produce market in the world gives importance to the agriculture in Finance.
The Philippines, on the other hand, Dar wants to improve food terminals in the Philippines by applying the principles of modernization, industrialization, and inclusive agribusiness.