Roadmaps for processed food industry set for completion

CEBU, Philippines – Industry roadmaps for sub-sectors of the processed food industry — carrageenan, processed shrimps and dried mangoes — are set to be completed soon as the Board of Investments (BoI) held the last leg of its roadmap workshops this month in Cebu and Davao.

The Department of Trade and Industry said the industry roadmap workshops for the said three sub-sectors were held in Cebu City early this month.

DTI said Cebu was chosen as the venue for the workshops because most of the major industry players and manufacturers are based here.

A cacao industry workshop was also done in Davao City. Davao region accounts for about 80% of cacao production in the Philippines.

Last week a Cacao industry investment forum was also organized in Cebu to gather stakeholders and discuss ways and interventions to revive the country’s cacao sector specifically in Cebu.

“Since May 2014, the US Agency for International Development-Advancing Philippine Competitiveness has been providing technical assistance in the formulation of the roadmaps for the mentioned processed food sub-sectors folowing a two-stage approach,” DTI said.

According to DTI, the processed food and beverage industries have a big contribution to the country’s economy.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, DTI noted that food and beverage producers comprised almost half of the total manufacturing gross value added in 2014.

The creation of industry roadmaps has been led by the private sector and is part of the government’s Industry Development Plan (IDP) launched in 2012, said BoI, an attached agency of DTI.

In a previous interview, Nestor Arcansalin, director at BoI, said the roadmapping project aims to enhance the competitiveness of key Philippine industries and implement their respective roadmap action plans.

The IDP also aims to boost countryside growth through the development of agriculture-based sectors.

Several roadmaps for different industries have already been completed. (FREEMAN)