Panayam kay DTI Asec. Glenn Peñaranda

PTVPhilippines

7/31/2023

Transcript

00:00 Investments and job opportunities.

00:04 The last state visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Malaysia.

00:09 That's what we will talk about with ASEC Assistant Secretary Glenn Penaranda,

00:15 Trade Promotions Group of the Department of Trade and Industry, ASEC. Good afternoon.

00:20 Good afternoon, Archie. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of your program.

00:27 From the $285 investment that President Marcos Jr. received in his last state visit to Malaysia,

00:38 were there identified thousands of jobs that could be given to our countrymen in the Philippines?

00:47 Yes, Aljon. Based on the investors who gave their letters of intent,

00:56 or the agreements with their Philippine partners,

01:01 our initial count will be around 10,000 jobs.

01:09 The President also mentioned that if these projects continue,

01:13 there will be indirect job implications that will reach more than 100,000.

01:22 You know, the President's program when he visits other countries,

01:29 he really makes time to meet with the business community

01:34 to share the opportunities in our country.

01:39 And also to ask them if we are interested to partner with them

01:45 for both the requirements of our industry here

01:50 and to pursue the opportunities that were opened like the RCEP that we are already part of.

01:59 From which sector or industry will be the first in the Philippines and when is it expected to start?

02:10 Aljon, the variety of sectors and all of these are aligned with our priorities.

02:20 For example, there is an interest in construction and infrastructure,

02:26 there is an interest in aviation and aviation services,

02:30 and related logistics.

02:32 There is also an interest in digital services.

02:35 And it is important in agriculture, which is really being given attention.

02:43 And in Malaysia, because their agriculture is developing,

02:48 especially in plantations and even for dairy farming.

02:53 So these are the sectors that have LOIs now.

02:58 But in my opinion, because the acceptance of the business community is really positive,

03:07 they say that the opportunity of our growing economy and a big market is increasing.

03:14 They find our administration to be very receptive, open, and transparent.

03:20 I mentioned before that every time the President talks to the negotiators,

03:25 he says that we are here because you are being given opportunities in the Philippines.

03:31 But we also want to listen to you so we know what else we need to do

03:37 so that the negotiators in the Philippines can grow their business

03:43 and others can be encouraged to do business in the Philippines.

03:47 Most of them are happening, some of them are going to start this year.

03:55 Most of them, within the next two years, will be doing dairy farming,

04:00 which the President mentioned, because it will take time to develop the farms.

04:06 But this project, actually, they already have an ongoing dairy processing project in Pampanga.

04:13 But they want to expand to dairy farming and it will take some time.

04:19 So until 2028, it will be dairy farming.

04:23 But most of them will be happening within the next two years.

04:27 One of the priorities of President Marcos Jr. is the agriculture sector.

04:35 Can you give us an idea of what the MOU, Memorandum of Understanding Asset,

04:45 is talking about between the Philippines and Malaysia,

04:48 where the investment and trade opportunities in the agriculture sector are discussed?

04:55 Actually, there are two aspects to this.

04:59 On government-to-government, we are discussing how we can cooperate in agriculture.

05:07 The two sectors we are looking at are rubber, we have rubber in Mindanao,

05:14 and palm oil, which Malaysia is successful in.

05:18 And then we have an opportunity to develop it also in Mindanao.

05:24 The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Anwar said that they will convene a joint commission

05:33 of meeting between our two countries to discuss the details of this.

05:40 As we produce food, it is included in the halal, which is a big opportunity

05:49 not only for our Muslim brothers but also for the world market.

05:55 On the private sector, it is important to align with what the President said,

06:01 beyond what the government does, it is important that our businessmen,

06:07 especially the big businessmen, will also help.

06:12 So there is a memorandum of understanding between the ASEAN Business Advisory Council of Malaysia

06:23 and the Philippines led by Joey Concepcion,

06:27 for their project of collaboration, the "Kapatid Angat Lahat" for the Agri Programme,

06:36 where the big companies will help the small farmers to integrate in their value chain.

06:45 Because it is important, and the President said that for our agricultural sector to expand and to grow,

06:54 they have to have technology, they have to be linked to the global value chain,

06:59 and they have to have some scale.

07:02 So because of this discussion between our private sector,

07:07 they will help, especially our small farmers, to be linked to the value chain,

07:15 either as a supplier or they will help with technology.

07:30 Because it is a new industry in our agriculture,

07:37 our livestock is basically poultry and pigs.

07:43 But for milk,

07:54 they have developed and also in partnership with the government.

08:16 So they have a partnership with the government and we hope we can develop this industry.

08:21 If this investment plan of the Malaysian Dairy Company, Farm Fresh Berhad, continues,

08:31 how many jobs can this give to our countrymen?

08:35 Actually, there are two components of this project.

08:43 The first is ongoing in Pampanga and they are employing about 50 people already.

08:50 But for now, they are just processing milk.

08:54 But what Farm Fresh wants to do is that over the next few years,

09:01 they will develop a dairy farm.

09:04 They will bring the cows that are suitable for our climate.

09:10 Because other cows are sensitive to heat,

09:14 so if it gets hot, and the milk's productivity is not suitable for our climate, it will be very small.

09:22 But they have now the breed that is appropriate for our climate,

09:27 that they have already tried in Malaysia, that is what they will bring here.

09:32 In the second part, the dairy farming,

09:37 they need to develop from 200 to 400 hectares and 2000 milking cows.

09:46 So this will give jobs to our many countrymen.

09:53 I also saw when this business was discussed,

09:56 that one of their system is to give our farmers a chance to have a good income

10:06 because they will offer a fair pricing to the milk and the cows.

10:12 And they also have a system where the farmers and also maybe the distributors of these milk products

10:23 in various dairy farms.

10:25 The President said that it would be good if this started near Los Baños, in Lebuna,

10:32 so that the technology transfer and UPFB can help them to start this dairy farm.

10:42 Aside from Farm Fresh, Berhad, how many other companies showed interest to move to the Philippines?

10:53 I already mentioned that the ones who gave the letters of intent or the agreement are 9 companies.

11:02 But the one with the President is the business delegation.

11:07 And we had about 25 businessmen, not only our big companies here in Manila,

11:15 but also we have a group from Indanao.

11:18 They had a networking session with the Malaysia International Chamber of Commerce

11:24 and the Mid-Tier Association of Companies in Malaysia.

11:29 These are the companies that are already looking for opportunities.

11:34 So I think the discussion there is good.

11:39 I already mentioned that many of them are looking at the Philippines as a market.

11:45 But at the same time, pag maganda na yung performance ng products nila dito sa atin,

11:52 several of them are also thinking of how they can produce things dito sa Pilipinas

11:58 para may export din sa ibang bansa.

12:01 Ang Malaysia kasi, and this is where we can really compliment them, ang population nila is only 30 million.

12:10 So for their industries to continue to grow, they will need of course a market.

12:16 Tayo 150 million sinasabi natin.

12:19 And more importantly, we have the labor force that they can tap.

12:24 So that together, we are encouraging them na dito din sila magproduce ng ibang mga produkto.

12:30 Kasabay na dyan yung strategic location natin in Asia and then yung ating mga preferences sa markets.

12:37 So we can export the products also from the Philippines.

12:41 All right. Maraming salamat Asek Glenn.

Panayam kay DTI Asec. Glenn Peñaranda

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