Papua New Guinea (PNG) officials, headed by its Minister of Parliament (MP), Honorable Ross Seymour, recently visited the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).
During the visit, PNG explored possible initiatives with the Council on agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources (AANR), and on policy formulation. PNG hopes that the visit will help them in attaining their five-year development plan for 2018-2022 especially on areas related to aquaculture and aquatic resources.
Along with Honorable Seymour were Mr. Moses Wanga, District Administrator; Mr. Yutis Tipeo, District Manager; Mr. Cliff Wimbevong, District Manager; Mr. Virginio Saguimpa, DXN JV Ltd Manager; and Dr. Mirzi Betasolo, Civil Engineering Department Head of the PNG University of Technology.
Aside from marine and aquatic sectors, Honorable Seymour also expressed PNG’s interest in curriculum offerings/development and conduct of benchmarking exploratory visits in the fields of molecular development, agricultural engineering, and biosystems. PCAARRD Executive Director Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora requested Honorable Seymour to write the concept for their proposed initiatives so that PCAARRD could make the proper representation to concerned agencies/institutions within its Network. Both PCAARRD and PNG Huon District agreed to first identify the specific areas to focus on in order to determine how to proceed with the proposed cooperation.
PCAARRD was represented by Dr. Ebora; Dr. Juanito Batalon, OIC-Deputy Executive Director for Research and Development; Dr. Mari-Ann Acedera, Director of Marine Resources Research Division; Engr. Eduardo Manalili, Officer-in-Charge of the Inland Aquatic Resources Research Division; Ms. Princess Ani, Senior Science Research Specialist, Socio-Economics Research Division; and Dr. Lilian Bondoc, Director, Policy Coordination and Monitoring Division. Dr. Acedera and Engr. Manalili presented PCAARRD’s Industry Strategic S&T Programs for marine and aquatic sectors, respectively.
After the briefing and meeting, the delegates were toured at the S&T Promotion Hub of the DOST-PCAARRD Innovation and Technology Center (DPITC) and the Seeds and Seedlings Plaza SciCAT Farm Tourism Site, which is a project of PCAARRD with Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Los Baños National Crop Research, Development and Production Support Center (BPI-LBNCRDPSC). Technologies and innovations generated from R&D projects implemented by PCAARRD’s partners in the AANR sector were showcased.
