Forum 1 (Panel 1): Small Farm Holdings and Land Consolidation in Agri Enterprise Development.: Karen Davila (moderator), Dato’ Dzulfilki ADB Wahab (FELDA, Technoplant Sdn Bhd. – Malaysia), Henry Lim Bon Liong (SL Agritech) , Dr. Hengky Novarianto (Indonesia Palm Crops Research Institute) and Winston Uy (Universal Leaf Philippines) with Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar (Go Negosyo Adviser for Agripreneurship) ASEAN BAC Chair Joey Concepcion and DOST Secretary Boy dela Peña.
In my 12 years of rallying for the development of micro and small entrepreneurs, I’ve seen that the majority of the poor come from the agriculture sector — they are the small farmers and fisher folk who toil tirelessly every day but get meager returns in exchange for feeding the nation. With 35 percent of our population working under this sector, it is no question that if we want to achieve greater prosperity, the agriculture sector must be empowered and transformed.
That is why, as the ASEAN Business Advisory Council chair, I could not let the year end without making the ASEAN Agriculture Summit happen. We were commended that this was the first summit in ASEAN’s 50 years that focused on agriculture and agripreneurship. This is surprising, primarily because half of the ASEAN nations garner most of their GDP from the agricultural sector. If we want the vision of prosperity for all to come to reality, we must continue to champion the development of this sector.
It was indeed overwhelming to see that more than a thousand people attended the recently concluded ASEAN Agriculture Summit. Of course, all this would not have been possible if not for the collaboration of both the private and the public sectors, and our guest speakers from across ASEAN. We were privileged to have the likes of Sen. Cynthia Villar and former DA secretary Dr. William Dar.
I hope that those who attended learned something from the rich discussions led by our outstanding panelists. May the lessons imparted be more than just words, but a spark to take the road towards greater prosperity for all.
ASEAN BAC Chair Joey Concepcion inspired all delegates to work together to transform ASEAN agriculture as the game changer for prosperity of all
Sen. Cynthia Villar, Senate Committee Chairperson on Agriculture, graced the summit and touched on the current policiess that help improve the lives of our poor farmers.
Karen Davila moderated the panel on Inclusive Contract Growing and Industrial Farming.
Oudet Souvannavong (Greater Mekong Sub-Region Business Council) and ASEAN Business Advisory Council member
USec. Ariel Cayanan (Department of Agriculture)
Dato’ Dzulfilki ADB Wahab (FELDA, Technoplant Sdn Bhd. – Malaysia)
Zulkarnain Bin Md. Eusope (FELCRA Berhad – Malaysia)
Cong. Arthur Yap
Inang Lupa Foundation President and former Department of Agriculture Secretary Dr. William Dar
Ferdinand Maranon (Sagrex Corp.) and Go Negosyo Adviser for MSME Development Merly Cruz
ASEAN BAC Members George Barcelon (Philipines) and Oudet Souvannavong (Lao PDR) with Betty Medialdea
ASEAN BAC Chair Joey Concepcion, Henry Lim Bon Liong (SL Agritech) and Winston Uy (Universal Leaf Philippines).
Tina Papillon and Gerard Papillon, Rosalino Perez of FRLD, and Toto Barcelona of Harbest
William Belo and William Ang of Wilcon Depot
Adviser to the ASEAN BAC Chair Jopin Romero and DTI Undersecretary Nora Terrado
Myanmar Amb. Win Naing and PCCI President & ASEAN-BAC Member (Philippines) George Barcelon
Go Negosyo Kapatid agri mentors Rex Daryanani, Willy Arcilla and Vix Madlangbayan
Faye Corcuera of BPI Foundation and Cherrie Atilano of AGREA
ASEAN BAC Chair Joey Concepcion and ASEAN-BAC Laos Chairman Oudet Souvannavong
Forum 1 (Panel 2): Farm Consolidation as Rural Development Strategy. (L-R): Quintin Pastrana (moderator), Zulkarnain Bin Md. Eusope (FELCRA Berhad – Malaysia), Saran Song (Amru Rice – Cambodia) Alex Buenaventura (Land Bank – Philippines) and Pablito Sandoval (Active Batangas Integrated Multipurpose Cooperative).
Forum 2: The Agri Value Chain and Value-Added Agri Extension Services. (L-R): Amor Maclang (moderator), Clint Coo (Siam Organic Co., Ltd. – Thailand), San Mateo Isabela Vice Mayor Roberto Agcaoili, Dr. Kamolrat Intaratat (Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University – Thailand), and Ruth Novales (Nestle Philippines).
Forum 3: Enabling Environment for Inclusive Business. (L-R): Quintin Pastrana (moderator), Dante Delima (ATISCO Philippines), Gigi Gatti (Grameen Foundation USA), Cong. Arthur Yap, USec. Ariel Cayanan (Department of Agriculture) and Oudet Souvannavong (Greater Mekong Sub-Region Business Council and ASEAN-BAC Laos).
Forum 4: Leveraging on Technology and Innovation. (L-R): Bettina Quimson (moderator), Jos Van Der Knaap (Rjik Zwaan Seeds B.V.), Dr. Dileepkumar Guntuku (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Iowa State University), Parker Ong (BlakCell Technology Limited) and Dr. Kiran Sharma (ICRISAT – India).
