Manila Bulletin
Philippines
National
Scale up agri production; be more competitive in ASEAN — Concepcion
Philippines
National
Scale up agri production; be more competitive in ASEAN — Concepcion
Scale up agri production; be more competitive in ASEAN — Concepcion
By Raymund Antonio and Raymund Antonio
Published Jul 20, 2023 07:34 am
For Philippine micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to compete with its neighboring countries, they must first scale up their agricultural production.
Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion admitted on Thursday, July 20, that “it’s very clear that we cannot compete right now in agriculture with our neighboring ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries.”
Joey Concepcion (Photo from Go Negosyo/Facebook)
However, he is confident that with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at its helm, the Department of Agriculture (DA), will find ways to achieve scale economies for MSMEs, especially in the agricultural sector.
“Scalability is very important to be able to compete. We will never be able to compete against the big companies in ASEAN because we don’t have scale,” he said during the Laging Handa public briefing.
Concepcion, who is also a representative of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, explained that Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam have huge tracts of lands that they were able to utilize for large-scale farming.
“Because without scale, you cannot bring down your cost to produce ‘no, that’s very clear – not whether it’s an agriculture, maski anong bagay ‘no (any product),” he explained, adding that rice and sugar are sold at a low cost in the three aforementioned countries.
He expressed confidence in both Marcos and Agrarian Reform chief Conrado Estrella III, saying that such a team “is very critical at this point in time.”
Concepcion also underscored the role of both DA and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to “really determine the amount of land that’s available, leasable to the big brothers and to other farmers, cooperatives that can own more lands or lease more lands so that they can plant more and be more competitive.”
He likened scalability to the way fastfood chains grew—through franchising.
“Even in putting up (a) restaurant, sometimes one restaurant is not enough and sometimes—that’s why you see Jollibee, McDonalds, they have business bonus, they franchise out and they create scale,” he said.
“So itong (this) franchising concept that is being done for restaurants and services can be adopted in agriculture which will create scale ‘no,” he added.
Joey Concepcion (Photo from Go Negosyo/Facebook)
However, he is confident that with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at its helm, the Department of Agriculture (DA), will find ways to achieve scale economies for MSMEs, especially in the agricultural sector.
“Scalability is very important to be able to compete. We will never be able to compete against the big companies in ASEAN because we don’t have scale,” he said during the Laging Handa public briefing.
Concepcion, who is also a representative of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, explained that Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam have huge tracts of lands that they were able to utilize for large-scale farming.
“Because without scale, you cannot bring down your cost to produce ‘no, that’s very clear – not whether it’s an agriculture, maski anong bagay ‘no (any product),” he explained, adding that rice and sugar are sold at a low cost in the three aforementioned countries.
He expressed confidence in both Marcos and Agrarian Reform chief Conrado Estrella III, saying that such a team “is very critical at this point in time.”
Concepcion also underscored the role of both DA and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to “really determine the amount of land that’s available, leasable to the big brothers and to other farmers, cooperatives that can own more lands or lease more lands so that they can plant more and be more competitive.”
He likened scalability to the way fastfood chains grew—through franchising.
“Even in putting up (a) restaurant, sometimes one restaurant is not enough and sometimes—that’s why you see Jollibee, McDonalds, they have business bonus, they franchise out and they create scale,” he said.
“So itong (this) franchising concept that is being done for restaurants and services can be adopted in agriculture which will create scale ‘no,” he added.