DTI, Go Negosyo seal MOU to empower the agri sector

On 6 March 2023, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) represented by Secretary Fred Pascual and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship Foundation, Inc. – Go Negosyo represented by Mr. Joey Conception for the implementation of the Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program (KALAP) at the Malacañang Palace.

Under its banner program Kapatid Angat Lahat (KAL) Program, Go Negosyo created KALAP, which is guided by the principle of 3Ms—Mentorship, Market, Money. This aims to foster the transformation of major agriculture commodities and industries and create a conducive business environment in the Philippines.

During the signing ceremony, Secretary Pascual said that “We at DTI recognize that farmers must be empowered by equipping them with right knowledge, skills, and guidance from experts in the field of entrepreneurship. KALAP will facilitate this, and we expect this to pave the way to increase agricultural productivity and profitability.”

Through KALAP, DTI and Go Negosyo seek to establish strategic partnerships with various government agencies, businesses, academic institutions, financial institutions, non-government organizations, and local government units (LGUs) to promote globally competitive agriculture and inclusive agricultural growth and development in the Philippines.

These partnerships are set to facilitate the conceptualization and development of partnership objectives, alleviate poverty in the agriculture sector through the implementation of inclusive agri-business programs, transform agricultural commodities and industries, implement an integrated and inclusive agricultural development program, promote a value chain approach to the agriculture industry through strategic partnerships, and achieve prosperity for all.

“Through this MOU, we aim to empower our local farmers, capacitate them with the right knowledge and skills, and increase their competitiveness as we further liberalize our economy in pursuit of the country’s development goals. We must ensure that as the country develops, no one should be left behind”, Secretary Pascual added.

Further, the MOU also established defined roles for DTI such as:

-Endeavor to ensure the country’s food security and improve agricultural commodities and industries’ productivity, profitability, and sustainability through collaborative efforts from the public and private sectors;

-Business facilitation of the agricultural commodity industries and particularly the following priority industries: rice, corn/livestock, sugarcane, cacao, coffee, tobacco, and coconut;

-Carry out proper planning, implementation, and monitoring of the concerned programs relative to the MOU;

-Facilitate necessary top-level coordination within DTI and other pertinent government agencies for effective collaboration;

-Extend reasonable efforts so that DTI’s management, staff, and advisors will cooperate on the operationalization of the programs/projects relative to the MOU; and

-Endeavor to conduct periodic consultation, planning and assessment, and other activities for the continuous improvement of the programs/projects relative to the MOU.