DTI sees increasing Phl share in $7-trillion global food industry

MANILA, Philippines -  The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sees the Philippines increasing its share in the global food industry, whose value is projected to surge to $7 trillion by 2014.

Speaking at the 8th International Food Exhibition (IFEX) Philippines at the SMX Convention Center recently, DTI Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said the local food industry could grow by up to 10 percent this year based on its 7.8-percent growth in the first quarter.

To stress his point, Domingo said coconut oil alone posted the second-largest export sales after electronics during that period. “Even Turkey is keen on importing sea foods from the Philippines,” Domingo pointed out.

He said the national strategy should involve efforts at internationalizing the local taste, attaining production efficiency, and promoting Philippine foods as a premium choice of global consumers.

Speaking in behalf of Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, Undersecretary Salvador Salacup said developing the food and agribusiness industry would require extending the production process from farming all the way to trading and embracing the emerging farmers’ sentiment from mere productivity to profitability, thus spawning a new breed of agri-entrepreneurs.

And to push the products of these agri-entrepreneurs to the foreign markets, Salacup said, the Department of Agriculture joins and supports five local and 18 international fairs, generating some $132 million in sales.

Among those fairs is IFEX Philippines, which brings in around 6,000 trade buyers and visitors annually from various countries worldwide.

This year’s IFEX has also brought together some 450 exhibitors from North America and Asia Pacific, including the Philippines.