PHL sees more export opportunities from ASEAN Economic Community

DAVAO CITY (PNA) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing through a plan to export pork and poultry products to Singapore, as it also scouts for more export opportunities offered by the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community.This was bared by DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol in an interview on the sidelines of the official launch of Philippine chairmanship of the ASEAN 2017 held here on Sunday. In ASEAN, our target initially would be Singapore because it is dependent on food import. (We will export) pork, chicken, eggs, even vegetable. But we have to really source these things from Mindanao because of its proximity to Singapore, he said.Piñol considered the AEC both as a boon and a bane especially for the country’s agriculture sector. We are trying to discover now what is it that Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam would need from us. We also have to discover what it is that they need because if we don’t do that, there will be trade imbalance. We will be flooded with (imported) products, he added.The agriculture chief stressed that the government is pursuing various programs to enable the farmers compete in the AEC.Piñol said these programs include the solar-powered irrigation system, the mechanization program, technology transfer and provision of hybrid seeds.He added President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to inaugurate the solar-powered irrigation system next month. It (AEC) also poses a challenge to us especially the DA because we have to make our farmers competitive or else, we will be swamped with cheaper and low cost agricultural products from other countries, he said.Apart from export opportunities, Piñol further said the DA is pushing for greater cooperation with Malaysia on rubber technology after a group expressed interest to put up the country’s first tire factory in Mindanao using local rubber. So in order to ensure sustainable supply of raw rubber for the tire factory, we need to develop our rubber industry and we need the support of Malaysia for that, (and) even Indonesia actually, he said.ASEAN groups 10 countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.