Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. recently led a Department of Agriculture (DA) delegation to Thailand to explore best practices, techniques, and systems in farming, product development, and agricultural supply chain management.

In his visit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Secretary Tiu Laurel conveyed to his Thai counterpart, Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat, the Philippines’ openness to sourcing more rice, vegetables, poultry, and pork from Thailand.

The DA delegation toured CPF’s Nong Chok factory, which processes 70,000 metric tons of food products, including fillets, ready meals, hams, and sausages, largely for export to Europe. Also, visited CPF’s Makro, a well-known wholesale retailer in Thailand.

The DA team also visited several Thai agricultural projects to observe sustainable farming practices and foster knowledge exchange.  The delegation also visited major food and agricultural wholesale and retail markets. The visit to these markets provided the delegation with ideas to incorporate in the improvement plans for food terminals in the Philippines. ###