Korea to help Philippines modernize farms

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung, right, shakes hand with Philippine Secretary of Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in Manila, Wednesday, after agreeing to accelerate modernization of agricultural equipment in the Philippines using Korean farm machines and knowhow. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung has reached a new deal with the government of the Philippines to cooperate for modernizing aged farming equipment and boosting food security in the Southeast Asian nation using Korean machines and knowhow.

Song on Wednesday met Philippine Secretary of Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in Manila and agreed on the official development assistance mission. Their meeting follows the Korean minister’s signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Philippine department a day before. Under the MOU signed at Malacanang Palace, the presidential office, the two countries agreed to advance the bilateral partnership.

Song and Tiu Laurel agreed to expand the alliance’s goals across farm machines, seeds, fertilizer and pesticides and reopen a joint committee on the bilateral cooperation. The missions stemmed from their agreement to modernize agriculture in the Philippines by further accelerating Korean exports of related tools.

“I requested to the Philippine government that ongoing construction of an industrial complex in the Philippines to manufacture Korean agricultural machines proceed according to schedule and without any problems. We confirmed both countries share interests in mutual growth of the agricultural sector,” Song said.

Construction began last December on manufacturing plants at the industrial complex in Cabanatuan City and is scheduled for completion by 2034. Once completed, the facility will be run by Korean farm machine developers and supported by the Philippine government to build and distribute the machines across Southeast Asian nations. The Korean authority said the complex will serve as a hub for Korean farm machine exports to the entire region.

Song, on the first day of her two-day visit to the nation on Tuesday, visited local businesses dealing with Korean agricultural machines and food products. She met a local distributor of Korean farm machines and a local buyer of Korean foods.

The meetings, according to the government, confirmed the rising popularity of Korean farm machines and K-foods in the local market. The minister also learned of the risks of non-Korean products there stealing K-brands to abuse their reputation and make sales, prompting her to plan countermeasures.