THE HAGUE, 08 November 2022 — The Philippines-Netherlands Business Council (PNBC), headed by Chairperson Ms. Maaike Groot, hosted a luncheon on November 04 at the Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam in honor of Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Panganiban and the members of his delegation.
Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban briefed the Philippines-Netherlands Business Council (PNBC) on the Marcos Administration’s priorities for agriculture, specifically streamlining farm operations and management, expanding production areas, and enhancing productivity of commodities through the provision of quality seeds to farmers. He added that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr has placed agriculture growth and productivity and food security in the forefront of the administration’s programs, having taken on the agriculture portfolio in a concurrent capacity.
Joining Ms. Groot were PNBC Board Members and Advisory Board Members, including Mr. Simon Groot, former Netherlands Ambassador to the Philippines Saskia De Lang, Philippine Consul General a.h. in Amsterdam Eppo Horlings, Mr. Matthijs van der Lely and Atty. Florisa Almodiel-Luteijn.
Senior Undersecretary Panganiban and his delegation were in The Netherlands for the ‘National Seed Technology Park – Knowledge Transfer’ project, a two-year collaboration with the Netherlands Government and other Dutch stakeholders in support of the Philippine seed industry through the development of an effective seed quality system.
Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya underscored the significance of the visit of Undersecretary Panganiban as it is pursuant to the commitments expressed in the Joint Statement issued by the two countries at their bilateral consultations in June 2021. “We are pleased to see robust cooperation particularly in agri-food. The Netherlands’ support and technical assistance to the Department of Agriculture’s National Seed Technology Park – Knowledge Transfer is a key item in the two sides’ development cooperation,” the Ambassador noted.
Also present were Senior Policy Officer Marien Valstar of the NL Ministry of Agriculture and Mr. Muhammad Moazzam of the Naktuinbow (https://www.naktuinbouw.nl/), an independent entity under the NL Ministry of Agriculture that monitors and promotes quality of products, processes and chains in horticulture.
Mr. Simon Groot, Honorary Chairman and Founder of the East-West Seed, affirmed his company’s longstanding commitment to helping further develop the Philippine agriculture sector.
The PNBC is a non-profit association established in 1994 in The Hague for the purpose of strengthening business and economic relations between the Philippines and The Netherlands. For more information on the PNBC, please email pnbc.thehague@gmail.com or follow PNBC’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069464973572.
Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs