DEPARTMENT of Agriculture (DA) officials said they are in talks with big South Korean conglomerates that expressed interest in importing high-value products from the Philippines.
“These are big conglomerates that expressed interest in our high-value products,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview, referring to South Korean companies engaged in shipbuilding and agriculture that sent representatives to a forum in Baler, Aurora, on Tuesday.
In that forum held between the Aurora Pacific Eco-Zone Management and the group of South Korean investors, Piñol said he presented to both parties the high-value products that the Philippines could offer to South Korea.
“As a sample, I allowed them to get a bite of the organic coco chips being manufactured in Laguna province by a company owned by Philip Leach and his son, along with Filipino partners,” Piñol said. “Carrying the brand name ‘Radical Organics’, the coco chips were a hit among the Koreans, who immediately asked how they could buy it for South Korean market.”
Piñol said that DA officials have yet to talk again with the interested South Korean investors. “They expressed interest, but I don’t know how they will do it, but I think this is a good opening for the Philippines,” Piñol said, adding that the DA is currently discussing the plans and proposals regarding the South Korean’s interest over the country’s high-value products.
He also said that the South Korean companies will donate three patrol boats to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, to strengthen the agency’s campaign against illegal fishing.
Piñol added that the offer was made directly to former Senate President Eduardo J. Angara, after the South Korean investors got pleased by DA’s program to stop illegal fishing in all waters of the country.
“I just opened a huge market for Philippine organic products and most of all, the campaign against illegal fishing will soon receive a big boost with the grant of three patrol boats from the South Korean investors for the country’s fisheries agency,” he added.
Early this month, Piñol proposed to Korean Ambassador Kim Jae -shin the possibility of the Philippines exporting organic chicken to South Korea, following the latter’s accreditation of two poultry facilities under San Miguel Foods Inc. to export chicken meat to their country.