News Details

THE MANILA TIMES

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has extended an invitation to Italian private businesses to invest in the Philippines, particularly in modernizing facilities in the agriculture sector.

The invitation was made by Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban through Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Francesco Lollobrigid.

According to the DA, the high level of agricultural productivity in Italy can be attributed to its modern agricultural machine industry.

"In the Philippines, there is significant potential for agricultural mechanization to support agro-industrialization in the country. Hence, bilateral cooperation in this area can benefit both stakeholders," DA said.

The department also said it is interested primarily in smart agriculture technologies, scaled-up mechanization, commercial scale-oriented technologies, smart irrigation, and water impounding or retention systems.

Panganiban met Lollobrigid in Rome for the World Food Forum Flagship Event of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on October 17, wherein the Institute of Services for the Agricultural and Food Market (Ismea) presented its report on the Italian agri-food sector.

He also acknowledged the strong bilateral trade relations in agriculture between the Philippines and Italy.

In 2022, total agri-food trade between the Philippines and Italy amounted to about $272 million. This was higher by 50 percent from 2020 and higher by 10 percent from 2021.

The Philippines' top agri-food export products to Italy last year were crude coconut oil, tuna, mucilages, and thickeners derived from vegetable products, pineapples in airtight containers, and banana chips.

Top Italian agricultural export products to the Philippines, meanwhile, were flour, meals, pellets of meat or meat offal, greaves, dog or cat food, sweet biscuits, waffles and wafers, tomatoes, and dried egg powder.

Panganiban also expressed the DA's interest in collaborating with Italy on mainstreaming climate resiliency in agriculture through sustainable, climate- and disaster-resilient technologies, and adopting climate information services.

The Italian Agriculture Minister, meanwhile, welcomed the updates and said he looks forward to further strengthening agricultural ties with the Philippines.