|
BY Katrina April Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
THE Department of Agriculture will put in place trade and investment
desks (TIDs) worldwide to tap international markets for farm and
fishery products, and attract more foreign investments in the
regions.
In a statement, Agriculture
Secretary Arthur Yap said the TIDs are one-stop shops for Philippine
farm produce set up to support exporters in getting overseas markets
by providing information on trade and marketing opportunities.
The idea, Yap said, is to
“bring in foreign investments and development assistance for the
agriculture sector, maximize the benefits of bilateral and
multilateral technical cooperation activities, and look for sources
of cheap inputs for local agro-fishery processing industries.”
The TIDs will be set up in
Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Korea and other key countries
in Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The
desks will be manned by qualified DA officers along with the experts
on trade rules and policies, marketing and trade and investment
promotion. A separate office will also be created to provide
logistical, protocol and administrative support for each TID and
agricultural attaches assigned overseas.
TIDs officers have to conduct an
inventory and monitor all agriculture and fishery trade agreements
and policies in each assigned country and region, keep track of
agricultural and investment policies, including development
assistance; and to match foreign investors with their Filipino
counterparts.
“The DA, through these TIDs,
will play a greater role in bringing in foreign agriculture and
fishery investments in the countryside,” Yap said.
|
