Opening speech of the Consulate General of the Republic of Philippines in Guangzhou

Vice Consul Karol Pęczak from the Poland Consulate General, and other distinguished members of the consular corps,

Ms. Liu Yahong, President of South China Agricultural University

Ms. Zhang Yuxiang, President of Chinese Agri-produce Marketing Association, (CHAMA)

Mr. Zhang Ping, Secretary General, China Good Agri-products Development& Service Association (CGAPA)

Mr. Tomsen Liu, Chairman of OSUN Exhibition

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. Shàngwǔ hǎo.

I thank WAGRI organizers and sponsors for this opportunity to speak to you today in this year’s Guangzhou World Agricultural Expo(Wagri). I also thank and commend my colleagues in the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines for their hard work towards making possible this successful country participation in WAGRI.

The Philippines has always been very keen to promote its agricultural products and its agriculture-related opportunities

to the world, and particularly to our Chinese friends.

In 2019, China was the Philippines’ top trading partner, top import supplier, second top source of approved investments, and third largest export market.

In 2019, total trade between the Philippines and China was recorded at 35.31 billion US dollars.

As expected, Philippine banana exports to China amounted to over 586 million US dollars, which accounted for about 2.9% of Philippine’s total export to China, and ranked seventh among the top 10 Philippine exports to China.   

Even amid the continued challenges brought about by the pandemic, our active participation in this fair demonstrates the Philippines’ steadfast readiness to do business and shows the eager energy of our agricultural enterprises to provide high-quality food products to the Chinese market and the rest of the world.

I am pleased to see business leaders here who are ready to seal business-to-business (B2B) investments and partnerships with Philippine exhibitors, and exchange ideas on modern agriculture, rural revitalization and development strategies, and the innovative use of technology to build a production and marketing platform for agricultural products.

In July, the pre-arranged two (2) rounds of one-on-one online B2B activities arranged by WAGRI organizers between Philippine exhibitors and interested buyers already yielded favorable results. That is, an initial sales amounting to about five (5) million yuan or at least eight hundred twenty (820) thousand US dollars. I look forward to seeing more contracts sealed during this fair proper.

Twelve (12) Philippine exporters are participating in this year’s WAGRI. Their representatives are ready to network with you and work with you to supply your demands. More so, they are open to discuss ways so you can maximize your partnership and potential profit. That they are participating in this year’s fair is a testament to their readiness to engage Chinese partners, and I would like express my thanks to these 12 firms by mentioning them one by one:

1. AGRINURTURE INC.

2. COCOWILD INCORPORATED

3. DOXO INTERNATIONAL TRADING

4. ENG SENG FOOD PRODUCTS

5. EXCELLENT QUALITY GOODS SUPPLY CO.

6. FRUITS OF LIFE INC. (LIPA COCONUT) / FOLI FOOD & BEVERAGE CORP.

7. GREENLIFE COCONUT PRODUCTS PHILIPPINES INC

8. MAGICMELT FOODS INC.

9. MAGSASAKANG PROGRESIBO MARKETING COOPERATIVE (MPMC)

10. MANCOCO FOOD PROCESSING INC.

11. PASCIOLCO AGRI VENTURES

12. SL AGRIFOOD CORPORATION

Our Filipino exhibitors can be found in booths A93 and A94. There you can see the Philippines’ high-quality fresh and dried fruits, cavendish banana and sweet pineapple, and baked and confectionary products.   

Likewise, I also encourage everyone to visit the onsite Philippine promotion activity from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the No. 2 Conference Room,Hall 1, Poly World Trade Center, to learn more about our premium products and competitive offers, as well as to get to know prospective partners to supply your product demand and other import needs.

Ladies and gentlemen,

With the prospective signing of new contracts today, it is my hope that the Philippines and China continue to maintain a healthy balance of trade, fostering more vibrant business-to-business exchanges, networking and partnership.

Our goals for greater connectivity and expansion of businesses are currently beset by the COVID19 pandemic, but our ultimate vision of greater prosperity for our two countries and peoples remain unchanged.

The persistence, dedication, and ingenuity of business leaders to come together to make mutually-beneficial deals, even through online channels, is truly commendable and innovative as we share the common effort to keep our economic activity running during this difficult time.

We urge you, our Chinese friends, to maintain the firm confidence in our continued and mutually-beneficial partnership, so that our B2B cooperation significantly redounds to a more robust economic partnership between the Philippines and China, and most importantly, to the greater benefit of our farmers and agricultural enterprises.

I wish everyone a productive participation in this year’s WAGRI.

Mabuhay! Xie xie!

HON. MARSHALL LOUIS ALFEREZ Consul-General