Secretary William Dar of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) and Minister Seong-Hyeok Moon of the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) signed the first-ever Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on fisheries cooperation on 26 November 2019 in Busan, South Korea.
The Philippine-Korea bilateral on fisheries is expected to boost the collaboration between the two countries for mutual benefits of its fishery sectors by enhancing cooperation in aquaculture and fisheries, and promoting fisheries trade and fishery-business investment.
Under the cooperation, DA and MOF will pursue and promote scientific and technical, economic, and trade cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture.
The fisheries cooperation is a take-off to the first agriculture cooperation signed in 2018 with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) during the first official visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in Seoul, Korea.
DA has been continuously collaborating with MAFRA and agri-related agencies to develop new partnerships leading to projects that will bolster agricultural and rural development and facilitate market access of Philippine agricultural products.
“DA is serious in its commitment to engage and strengthen bilateral relations with South Korea being one of the leading food importers in the world, requiring almost USD 30billion food imports. South Korea is one of the most lucrative markets for Philippine agri-fisheries products,” Dar said.
Korea is considered an emerging market for high-value seafood and fisheries exports. Since 2016, exports of high-value seafood and fisheries products to Korea is growing by an average of almost 17 percent, generating USD 28-million earnings for the Philippines in 2018.
Among the major Philippine fishery exports to Korea include tuna, abalone, sea cucumber, octopus, shrimps and prawns, seaweeds and carrageenan.
The MOU signing on fisheries cooperation was part of the Philippine side meetings during the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit held on November 25-26 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the dialogue partnership between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea. The summit is considered the biggest international conference that Korea hosted under the administration of President Moon Jae-in. ###
