Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat!

 It is always a great privilege to join all of you here in charting new directions for the agriculture and fisheries sector through agricultural and fisheries mechanization.

Before I continue, I would like to welcome everyone here who joined us today and commend your unceasing efforts which remind us how important our partnership is.

We have come here today to realize the need to improve the efficiency of the country’s agriculture and fisheries sector.

During the previous meeting of the AFMech Committee, issues and concerns were raised relative to the DA’s procurement of agri-fishery machinery and equipment such as limited number of participating bidders and no identified beneficiaries prior to procurement, among others.

With this, the AFMech Committee came up with the draft guidelines on the DA’s procurement of agri-fisheries machinery and equipment, in accordance with the 2016 Revised IRR of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. The procurement of appropriate agri-fishery machinery and equipment is crucial to the success of the DA’s Food Sufficiency Program.

The aim of this undertaking is to 1) present the draft guidelines on the DA’s procurement of agri-fisheries machinery and equipment, 2) generate inputs prior to its finalization, and 3) come up with policy issuance for its effective implementation.

In order to achieve this, a substantive review and comprehensive recommendations from all of you here are very significant. We enjoin all of you to actively participate in addressing the challenges that we face in the agri-fishery sector.

Let us strive to give rise to innovative farming technologies, reduce postharvest losses and accelerate product value-adding.

I am urging every one of you to voice out concerns and suggestions to assist us to develop a more realistic and doable guidelines on the DA’s procurement of agricultural and fisheries machinery and equipment.

Maraming salamat po!

 

Date: February 23, 2017
Venue: FPA Convention Hall