State Dining Room, Malacañan Palace
August 8, 2023

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. met with the private sector stakeholders for a discussion on the rice industry at the State Dining Room in Malacañan Palace.

Reporting about the factors that threaten the country’s rice production and export, including the El Niño phenomenon, the Department of Agriculture (DA) gave an overview of the country’s current rice supply situation, the supply-demand outlook assumptions, the 2023 rice outlook, import trends and needs, and recommendations.

For its part, the private sector, as convened by Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Lead Convenor and Aboitiz Group President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sabin Aboitiz, expressed concern over harmonizing data between private rice traders and the DA.

The President called on all sectors involved to hold a meeting and work on the basic data before discussions proceed to addressing rice supply, as well as of rice importation. “We need to have the right numbers so that we can respond properly in time,” he stressed, adding further that consultations such as this with the private sector must be continued in order to ensure that the country will have enough rice supply until the end of El Niño.

He also assured that the Administration is undertaking more government-to-government (G2G) engagements with its foreign partners to provide immediate attention to the country’s pressing concerns in the rice industry.

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