Makati businessmen urged to invest in agriculture

Members of the elite Makati Business Club (MBC) were urged to look for investments in agriculture as their way of helping bail the country out of its economic difficulties.

Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Q. Montemayor made this call while strongly advocating for the full implementation of the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMC). MBC executive director Guillermo Luz said it was the first time the MBC invited the secretary of agriculture to speak before its members.

According to Montemayor, the AFMA sets the framework by which the country can achieve sustainable food security and a modernized agriculture and revitalize productivity for a more abundant food supply, coupled with more efficient deployment of resources and the building of genuine partnerships between government and the private sector.

He asked the private sector to explore the possibility of entering into build-operate-transfer schemes in irrigation which is the most vital infrastructure needed by farming communities.

"Certainly, there are business opportunities in all areas of farming and agribusiness: contracting, procurement and services from hydrological assessments, mapping, engineering, supervision, monitoring and design, technical training, construction, management and user training and the simple provision of the endless list of parts and equipment: seeds, feeds, breeds, chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, construction materials, pumps, pipes, hoses, motors, fuel, electricity, farm machineries, tools and so forth," Montemayor stressed.

Though sales to government of supplies and equipment are straightforward, there are limitless opportunities for contracting, forward procurement, tie-in arrangements, counter-trade, creative financing and other innovations in agribusiness and rural enterprise, he added.

Montemayor cited the urgency of private sector initiative and ingenuity for investment in productive technology and extension. "Clearly, public research and development system can not by itself uncover and bring to commercial success the best in technology," he added.

He also asked the private sector to assist the government in formulating and executing appropriate global agricultural trade policies. "In this incrasingly inter-connected and interdependent world, there is no feasible alternative to intelligent, entrepreneurial and profitable commerce in the international context," he said.

As the country faces an expanding market for its high value products — meat, horticulture, aquaculture and processed agricultural products — it also faces serious competition to traditional commodities like rice, corn, sugar and coconut.

Faced with such a situation, it is imperative that government and business must bond together to shape the negotiating strategy that will bring long-term sustainable returns to all Filipinos, he said.