More agri bureaucracy

There is a plan for growth in the agri sector, but growth of the wrong kind — the growth of bureaucracy. Here’s the grand plan. The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set on putting up trade and investment desks (TIDs) in so-called key markets worldwide. This on top of the existing and usually one-man agriculture attaché offices in at least five countries: Australia, Japan, Italy, US, Belgium and China.

The vague justification given was that these TIDs are necessary in the DA’s efforts to tap international markets for Philippine farm and fishery products, as well as to funnel more foreign investments into the countryside.

The DA, according to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, will initially set up these TIDs in Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, Korea, as well as in key countries in Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

These TIDs will serve as a one-stop shop for Philippine farm producers and exporters to assist them in tapping overseas markets by providing information about trade and marketing opportunities.

They will also among others, apprise aspiring agribusiness exporters about basic facts about the economic, political and social situation in the countries where they plan to sell their commodities.

Great! I am assuming that if one is aspiring to export his products abroad, he should at least already have made the basic due diligence on his own. No exporter worth his salt will go on such a bold venture without having his own resources, let alone rely on the government to assist him.

The TIDs will be led by a team leader who will provide logistical, protocol and administrative support for each desk plus the agricultural attaches assigned overseas.

Qualified agriculture attachés

What I can’t quite fathom is that all the above mentioned functions seem to be the same reasons why we have the existing agricultural attachés. In fairness, there are a couple of these attachés who have been performing well despite the meager resources that they are getting from the government. Some of them have been in their posts for years and already know the peculiarities and sensitivities that go with their jobs. These attachés have proven to be adept in dealing with rather sensitive diplomatic issues.

Had the DA been more appreciative before of the crucial role of these agriculture trade attachés in bringing in foreign investment, then they could have provided them early on with enough manpower and equipment to get their jobs done.

But because that is not the case, most of the attachés count on the goodwill that they have earned from their colleagues at their respective embassies abroad to lend them a helping hand and on the network that they established to make sure that our agricultural exports somehow get introduced into these untapped, lucrative markets.

Again the DA’s intentions for putting up these TIDs appear to have been haphazardly conceptualized, aside from the fact that it simply does not have the financial resources for such an undertaking.

Producers not yet ready

In the first place, before the DA even thinks of trying to penetrate the global trade, it should assess the readiness of our producers.

As it is now, only a handful of our agricultural producers are in a position to slug it out there in the open arena where they compete with highly-subsidized producers from richer nations. Except for pineapples, bananas, and mangoes, which consist largely of big agribusiness, only a few real agribusiness entrepreneurs can hope to realistically make a dent in the global market.

Before even embarking on an ambitious plan to put up these TIDs, the DA should be focusing first on making sure the Philippine agriculture sector has something worthwhile to export.

How many times have these smaller producers tried but failed to go into exports? It is not unusual that many have attempted a couple of times to export, and in the initial process in fact, do succeed, but often times, inevitably after just a few years, fold up in the face of competition.

Starting up woes

A lot of those that made it once, but ultimately failed, make for a cautionary tale. While they have been received well initially by their customers abroad, they couldn’t meet the desired volume required. And why couldn’t they? Most startups just do not have adequate resources to expand, they have limited access to loans, and often times, are slapped with phyto and phytosanitary non-tariff barriers by exporting countries which also have to protect their local producers.

These TIDs will only be creating a new layer of bureaucracy, and will be duplicating the current functions of the agricultural attachés. Clearly, there does not seem to be any logic in having another bureaucratic layer; unless, of course, there’s a different reason altogether for these "desks."

Poker satellite at Airport Casino

Airport Casino Filipino Parañaque will host the first Metro Manila satellite/qualifying tournament for the 3rd Philippine Poker Tour (PPT)  Million-Peso Hold’em Championship on March 31, 2007. Registration starts at 1 p.m., and tournament at 2 p.m.

Winners of satellite tournaments are awarded guaranteed seats to the grand finals of the 3rd PPT Million-Peso Hold’em Championship, the biggest non-wager poker skills tournament. Seats to the grand finals are worth P30,000 as tournament fee and P3,000 as registration fee.

Qualifying/satellite tournaments are scheduled in the following venues for the month of April: San Mig Alabang Town Center, every Wednesdays and Fridays, Airport Casino (April 14), Hyatt Hotel and Casino (April 21), Casino Filipino Lahug, Cebu (April 21) and CF Angeles City (April 29).

Details of prize structure and tournament rules for the 3rd PPT Million-Peso Hold’em Championship are posted in the official PPT website, www.PhilippinePokerTour.com. Interested parties may also call the PPT secretariat (c/o Cindy) at 817-9092 or 812-0153.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 4th Floor, 156 Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected] or at [email protected]. For previous columns, you may visit my website at http://bizlinks.linkedge.biz.