MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines continues to strengthen its ties with Oceanian nation Papua New Guinea, this time for the development of both countries’ fisheries sector. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol led the Philippine team from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in discussing fisheries development with the National Fisheries Authority of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. Piñol and the Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources Patrick Basa inked a memorandum of understanding on fisheries cooperation. The program is expected to supply the rice requirements of Papua New Guinea and assure the Philippines of sufficient rice supply produced by Filipino farmers. Papua New Guinea has 48 million hectares of arable land with only eight million population.

Source: Philippine Star February 03, 2019 16:05 UTC