China provides $100-M agri credit facility

The People’s Republic of China (PROC) has provided a close to $100-million agricultural credit facility to the Philippine government.

The document was signed by Finance Secretary Jose Pardo for the Philippine government and Madame Liu Jianling, general manager of the China National Constructional and Agricultural Machinery Import and Export Corp. (CAMC), for the People’s Republic of China.

"The international enthusiasm and the wellspring of support for the Estrada administration remains strong. There is confidence in the President’s leadership," Agriculture Secretary Edgardo J. Angara said.

Angara, who witnessed the signing in Malacañang, explained that under the agreement, the CAMC would provide close to $100 million in credit facility to be used specifically for agricultural facilities. The Department of Agriculture, as project executing agency, will identify priority agricultural projects with the National Economic and Development Authority helping out in technical evaluation of the project proposals.

Initial projects lined up for financing include the Banaoang irrigation project in Ilocos Sur; expansion of fishports in General Santos City and in Mercedes, Camarines Norte; establishment of farmers service centers in Oriental Mindoro, Batangas, Isabela and Cagayan de Oro; prototype tuna handline fishing boats for General Santos City and other parts of Mindanao; fishport development in Catbalogan, Samar; upgrading of abattoirs in Batangas and Cavite; seaweeds ecozone development projects in two yet unspecified sites, and provision of shallow tube wells and hand tractors in various parts of the country.

According to Angara, the financing agreement further strengthened the ties of cooperation between China and the Philippines in the field of agriculture, which was established in September 1999 when the two countries agreed to cooperate in agriculture and other related areas.

This was followed by a memorandum of understanding in agriculture signed in May this year, the same month when both countries issued a joint statement outlining the framework for bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and China in the 21st century.

Last year, a delegation headed by China’s Agriculture Minister Chen Yaobang visited the country, paving the way for the determination of what specific support China could provide for the government’s food security program.

Angara likewise visited China on invitation from Yaobang and thereupon requested that Chinese assistance should include farm machineries and high yield seeds to improve agricultural production in the country.