The Philippines could lend its expertise in the field of agriculture to support Qatar’s drive towards self-sufficiency and food security, an official of a Doha-based Filipino organisation specialising in entrepreneurship told Gulf Times.
Joseph Rivera, the chairman of the Association of Filipino Realtors & Entrepreneur Executives in Qatar (Afreeq), met with reporters Sunday to announce the annual Philippine Property & Investment Show – Qatar (PPISQ) slated on November 16 in Doha.
Rivera said this year’s PPISQ will be rebranded as the Philippine Agricultural Livelihood & Reintegration Conference – Qatar (Palrec). Together with Rivera were DV Boer International Corporation CEO Dexter Villamin, Sheikha Thalia al-Thani of StarNET, and Gie Sinaon of the Isabel Granada Foundation.
According to Villamin, there is potential to invest in ‘sub-farms’ in Qatar that could cater to the country’s agriculture needs using DV Boer’s business model in the Philippines. Since its inception four years ago, Villamin said DV Boer has 74 sub-farms nationwide, making it “biggest livestock farm in the Philippines.”
“DV Boer has generated over P1.5bn worth of investments…investment growth in the field of agriculture is tremendous because for one, there is a large market for farm animals, such as cattle and goat. At the moment, our group has 20,000 heads of goat and 6,000 heads of cattle. I would estimate investment growth at 400% annually,” Villamin said.
Rivera said PPISQ 2018 will feature enhanced seminars on the agriculture industry in the Philippines and livestock livelihood opportunities, farm property development, agri-based microfinance, financial literacy, and returning OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) reintegration programmes, among others.
In co-operation with LiQha Creative Arts, the event will also include an exhibition that aims to complement Philippine industries and a trade fair for Qatar-based Filipino entrepreneurs, Rivera further said.
“The recent rebranding of annual PPISQ has proven to be effective as its adaptive themed topics have been beneficially relevant to the current business trends in the Philippines beyond properties and conventional investments,” Rivera pointed out.
He noted that Palrec will culminate with a gala dinner as a memorial for actress Isabel Granada who died of an aneurysm while in Qatar. Granada was one of the speakers of last year’s PPISQ, which carried the theme ‘Philippine Trade & Tourism Conference – Qatar.
“Afreeq will also coordinate with the Philippine embassy in Doha for the invitation of Philippine government officials who will serve as keynote speakers, and for vital consultation on various aspects that would warrant the success of Palrec, especially in ensuring that the event shall be in line with the economic agenda that the embassy wishes to promote,” Rivera added.
