The Philippines and Israel have committed to pursue science, technology, and innovation projects centered around agriculture and health, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced Friday, Jan. 29.
In a taped report, DOST Secretary Fortunato "Boy" de la Peña said he met Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss online on Jan. 24 to discuss the Department's collaboration with Israel.
"The priority and the specifics of the cooperation identified were on the innovation, ecosystem which will focus on technology-based enterprise incubation and acceleration," de la Peña said.
"One that will focus on agriculture, water management, one that will focus on the development of the vaccines and therapeutics for our livestocks," he continued.
Partnership on drug discovery and drug commercialization, as well as the establishment of the Virology Science and Technology Institute will also be explored.
According to de la Peña, Fluss also expressed the intent of creating an incubator/facility in the Philippines.
"The Embassy shared its plan to establish Smart Agriculture Centers in Philippines Universities which will serve as centers to demonstrate Israeli technologies, conduct trainings, and local research."