June 21, 2013

Philippine pangasius sector to have own processing facilities

The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will offer its services facilities to the pangasius industry as part of its plan to help develop the sector.

The department will lend its facilities to its priority industry clusters, including the pangasius industry, this year and in the succeeding years until 2016, said Dorecita T. Delima, Trade department assistant regional director for Region 12, in the statement. She added that the department has "initially identified areas that want to avail of these facilities."

The department, however, is still studying the regions that have requested the facilities.

The facilities will provide an area where equipment for pangasius processing can be shared by several cooperatives. The department said the facilities are similar to a fish processing plant for fish growers that have already been set up in other areas.

The shared services program aims to help develop micro, small, and medium enterprises be more competitive in local and foreign markets. It has a budget allocation of around PHP700 million (US$60 million).

The DTI said it aims to set up 800 shared services facilities nationwide. The agency has several pilot projects for the pangasius industry in Regions 3 to 5 and 8 to 12.

Delima said other programs under consideration for the pangasius industry include a value chain map.

The Trade department and its partners, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Science and Technology department and the German Agency for International Cooperation have held a conference to assess accomplishments of the pangasius industry cluster from 2009 to 2012.

The agency also finalized strategic objectives for the industry until 2016.

Pangasius was introduced to the country in 1981. It belongs to the catfish order and is also known as cream dory.