PH, Brunei explore greater agri trade ties
MANILA -The Philippines and Brunei are exploring potential agricultural trade opportunities which include the exportation of various commodities, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
“To help Brunei with its increasing demand for rice, the Philippines will be exploring heightened production and export opportunities for local Jasmine and sticky rice variants between 2024 and 2025,” the DA said in a statement on Thursday.
Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban also proposed the export of Philippine coconut peat, coconut oil, sweet corn, cacao, pineapples, mangos, avocados, durian, fishery products and poultry products to Brunei markets via the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
BIMP-EAGA is a cooperation initiative created in 1994 to enhance trade, industries, investments, tourism, and socio-cultural exchange by means of newly-established intra-region shipping routes, air links and power interconnection projects.
Brunei’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Megawati Manan signaled the possibility of shipping halal beef, lamb, and other meat products to the archipelago.
Manan likewise suggested opening Brunei to Filipino industries as a production hub of halal products.
Both countries also explored the possibility of renewing the memorandum of understanding on Food Security and Cultural Cooperation which lapsed in 2016.
The accord, signed in 2011, outlined the collaboration between the Philippines and Brunei on the realization of the food basket initiatives of the BIMP-EAGA as well as the development of their respective agriculture, fisheries, food processing and halal industries.
