ASEAN countries discussed need to be self-reliant on fertilizers to attain food security —PCCI chief

JAKARTA, Indonesia—The member-states of the ASEAN discussed the need to be self-reliant on fertilizers to achieve food security in the region, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon said Monday.

“In our region, we depend highly on fertilizers coming from abroad the biggest of course, nitrogen fertilizer makers are China, US, Russia, and India,” Barcelon said in an interview with GMA News Online at the sidelines of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, where he spoke about agriculture.

Barcelon is part of the Philippine delegation at the 43rd ASEAN Summit, which will be attended by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

He noted that the host country, Indonesia, was also into producing fertilizers but even they had to import for their agriculture production.

“This is very important for the region. We talked about food security and we have to be self-reliant at least on big portion of our fertilizer,” he added.

Barcelon mentioned that the Philippines, like other ASEAN countries, is working on food security, but he stressed the need for the government to focus on small farmers to increase productivity.

“During the panel discussion of the food security of the ASEAN region… We talked about the importance of the small farm holders that they should be looked into so that they will not be at the level of just for sustenance but they should be looped into being an entrepreneur,” he said.

“It’s important and that’s exactly what our Department of Agriculture under President BBM (Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.) is doing. So it means that we have to upgrade them and the technology. We have to give them financing and we have to improve our infrastructure— the irrigation, [the] farm to market road, and digitization,” he added.

Marcos, who concurrently sits as the Philippine Agriculture secretary, is set to arrive in Jakarta, Indonesia to attend the 43rd ASEAN Summit Monday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Marcos will meet with businesses looking to expand operations in the Philippines at the sidelines of the Summit.

Marcos will also have several bilateral meetings with other world leaders on the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN Summit.—AOL, GMA Integrated News