BONTOC, Mountain Province – Assistant Secretary Ana Marie Banaag of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) reported concerned government agencies are working out various forms of assistance to prepare farmers, traders and manufacturers for the stiff competition once the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreement will be implemented.
Banaag said President Rodrigo R. Duterte is always mindful of the welfare of farmers and rural entrepreneurs thus he gave strict orders to the various agencies in charge of advancing the welfare of farmers and traders to study the possibility of providing whatever assistance to make their products competitive in the market.
“Everyone is on their feet to look into the possibility of extending the needed assistance to our farmers and small entrepreneurs in the countryside to make their products competitive in the local and international markets. We are optimistic that we will be able to roll out the needed government support once it will be put in place by our agency heads,” Banaag stressed.
The PCOO official said local products have the desired quality but they lack appropriate packaging thus the trade and industry department has been tasked to work out the necessary packaging techniques for products to ensure their competitiveness in the different markets.
According to her, entrepreneurs are also being taught the necessary marketing strategies to advance the aggressive promotion of local products beyond the local markets.
Assistant Secretary Banaag admitted locally produced agricultural crops are far better than those produced in China and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region but the high cost of farm inputs affect the prices of the commodities when sold in the world market, thus, people often patronize cheap but lower-quality products from other countries.
Banaag claimed the previous actions of the President speaks well on his standing policy to prioritize the purchase of locally grown products before shifting to importing products when local products are not enough to cater to the needs of the people.
According to her, Filipino products have always a place in the international markets considering their proven quality, thus, the need for stakeholders to sustain the needed promotion of such internationally competitive products.
Banaag assured farmers, traders and manufacturers that government support to the aggressive promotion of their produce and the assistance they are supposed to get to produce the products is planned out and given to them in due time.
By HENT
