06 November 2013 - The Agribusiness Investment and Reintegration Forum was successfully held in Milan and Modena from October 26 and 27, respectively, with over 200 participants from the Filipino communities of Milan, Brescia, Modena, Bologna and Parma.
In her opening remarks, Philippine Consul General in Milan Lourdes S. Tabamo cited the important role of Filipinos overseas as partners of national development. She cited that this recognition is demonstrated in the current efforts by the government to encourage overseas Filipinos to invest in the country’s agribusiness under the joint program by the Department Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Consul General Tabamo explained that through the program, agribusiness investments are promoted to serve as platform for the reintegration of overseas Filipinos in the local economy upon their return to the Philippines from abroad.
The Forum’s key speakers were Milan-based DOLE-OWWA Welfare Officer Cynthia Q. Lamban, and Special Agricultural Representative Lupiño Lazaro, Jr. and Assistant Agriculture Attachè Esteban Pagaran, both of whom are from the Philippine Embassy in Rome. Discussed were the requirements and terms/conditions for overseas Filipino workers to avail themselves of low-interest loans under DOLE’s Reintegration Program, and the various DA assistance to start an agribusiness ventures in livestock, high value crops and fisheries. An open forum capped the event.
Also present at the event was Vice Consul Margret Malang of the Philippine Embassy in Rome to convey the message of the Philippine Ambassador to Italy Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr..
In his message, Ambassador Reyes called on Filipinos in Italy to continue to take part in the nation’s progress towards inclusive growth as set by President Benigno Aquino III.
As a show of solidarity to the victims of the recent earthquake that struck Cebu and Bohol, Filipinos at the forum passed a donation box around, with the money collected to be sent to the appropriate agencies in support of relief and rehabilitation projects.
The Agribusiness Investment and Reintegration Forum was initially launched in Rome, Milan and Turin during the visit of DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and DOLE Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz in June 2013. Echo seminars are to be conducted in other parts of Italy to further promote and support the country’s programs for reintegration and agribusiness investments for overseas Filipinos under the DA-DOLE program. END