June 25, 2015

At Philippine livestock show, President Aquino lures foreign investors

Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III on Thursday, June 25, invited foreign exhibitors in the Philippines' biggest livestock show to "fully explore the (investment) possibilities" that his country offers them, saying "we continue to offer incentives for those willing to invest in the industries in non-traditional areas".

Aquino, who graced the formal opening ceremonies on the second day of Livestock Philippines 2015 Expo, urged the exhibitors from 18 countries to "look for opportunities through which we can amplify each other's strengths towards a more robust livestock sector."

Aquino said the Philippines was aiming to become a major meat exporter banking on its safe meat free from such diseases as the highly pathogenic avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease. "As you know", he said, "the Philippines has been performing very well in terms of food safety. Our country has been free from avian flu since 2005, and of foot-and-mouth disease since 2010. These achievements alone make us eligible to export meat".

To ensure that meats produced in the Philippines remain safe, Aquino said that the country has amended the Meat Inspection Code, which imposes stricter fines for food-safety violations, and enacted the Food Safety Act of 2013, which "strengthens our food regulatory system to better protect consumer health and facilitate our food exports".

Aquino said the Philippines had increased its investment budget for livestock and poultry by 108%, citing two large-scale projects that would boost the country's export ambition. These are the AAA poultry dressing plant project in Bamban town, Tarlac province north of Manila, which is worth 120 million pesos (US$2.66 million), and the AAA slaughterhouse project in Tanauan town, Batangas province, south of Manila, worth PhP150 million ($3.33 million). Both of these projects are expected to be completed this year, he added.

Meanwhile, the organiser of Livestock Philippines, UBM Asia, said the opening day of the expo was "a great success."

Three co-located events are also be featured during the livestock show: Feeds Expo Philippines 2015; Food Processing and Packaging Philippines 2015 Expo; and PhilMeat 2015 Expo & Technical Seminar.