EXPERTISE from Italy holds the potential to get the Philippines’ long-delayed push to modernize its agricultural sector going, a consultancy firm said.
In a statement Sunday, Manila-based A-List & Partners Consultancy, which assists companies setting up operations in the Philippines, said the immediate application of various technical cooperation agreements signed by the Philippines and Italy lies in agriculture.
It cited the recent Manila visit of Italy’s Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Manlio di Stefano, as evidence of potential interest in various areas of technical cooperation.
It urged both sides to “use Italian technologies to help modernize the Philippines agricultural sector and improve its productivity,” and also to increase cooperation in the cultural sector, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, transportation and the auto industry.
“The Philippines and Italy have concluded several agreements, including those pertaining to scientific and technical cooperation, investments, small and medium enterprises, and various transportation and communication initiatives,” the business consulting firm noted.
“Under the Duterte administration, Italy sees Manila as holding incredible amounts of untapped potential in terms of infrastructure projects, machinery, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and in the automotive industry. The visit by Undersecretary di Stefano is expected to discern how Italy and the Philippines can help one another in realizing this potential,” it added.
Philippine exports to Italy, consist largely of food products, apparel, electronic equipment and machinery, fell last year to $201.92 million from $317.21 million a year earlier, according to data posted on the United Nations Comtrade website.
Italian products shipped to the Philippines, including machinery, electronic equipment, food-industry byproducts and animal fodder, were worth $665.88 million last year, against $635.32 million in 2017. — Arjay L. Balinbin
