Agrilink organizers see local opportunities in global crisis

MANILA, Philippines - The agribusiness sector can look past the constricting export market and focus instead on the many “local opportunities amidst the global crisis.”

Such is the message behind all the preparations that members of the local industry are doing for this year’s Agrilink, Foodlink and Aqualink, the country’s biggest and most prestigious annual international trade show on agribusiness, food and aquaculture.

Event organizer Foundation for Resource Linkage and Development (FRLD) sees product diversification at the micro level down to the smallest village production centers as a key strategy to prop up the economy through sustainable production and productivity for the market that these can best serve.

“This is the essence of the theme ‘Sustainable Food Production: Focus on the Filipino Market’ for this year’s Agrilink, Foodlink and Aqualink,” said FRLD president Antonio V. Roces. “Now is the perfect time for the agribusiness sector to deviate from undertakings that require extensive and expensive logistics and marketing networks and inventory financing,” Roces said.

“While we continue to develop foreign markets, particularly those in countries least affected by the global crisis, we can better assure sustainable local food production by focusing on micro-enterprises that cater primarily to domestic consumption.”

The enabling mechanisms for this strategic thrust will be presented during the staging of Agrilink, Foodlink and Aqualink 2009 at the World Trade Center Manila on Oct. 8-10.

A new 450-sqm International Livestock and Dairy Expo (ILDEX) pavilion will further expand the exhibit area for international companies, products and technologies. These annual events are graced by tens of thousands of visitors from all sectors of the business community and supported by ABS-CBN and Manila Bulletin as media partners. For more information, call 8384549, 8384605 and 8384491, or email [email protected].