The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) was given a chance to present its proposal for a Philippine-Thailand Agricultural Cooperative Exchange Program (PT-ACEP) 2027-2029 to the Cooperative Promotion Department (CPD) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), Kingdom of Thailand, during the 3rd Meeting of the Joint Agricultural Working Group between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of the Philippines (3rd PH-TH JAWG).
The meeting was held on July 22, 2025 at Na Tree Tara, Samut Songkrham Province, Thailand. This proposal is inspired by a mutual recognition of good results during the Reciprocal Visit of the Philippines to Thailand, dubbed as the Agricultural Cooperative Leaders Development Between Thailand and the Philippines, last November 17-21, 2024 participated in by CDA Technical Personnel, women cooperative leaders and Department of Agriculture personnel. Said activity was part of continuing exchange initiative between the two countries originating from a Thailand proposal and following the visit of Thailand delegates to the Philippines in a related reciprocal visit last 2018.
The proposal, which was shepherded by the Cooperative Research, Information and Training Division (CRITD) – Institutional Development Service (IDS), CDA, was received with positive comments from the Thailand counterparts. It intends to pursue the exchange of best practices in agricultural cooperative development for the enhancement of technical capacity, and joint learning innovation. It also aims to strengthen CDA and CDP-MOAC long-term cooperative development collaboration. The proposal envisions the conduct of Bilateral Exchange Missions, Joint Training and Knowledge Sessions, Pilot Demonstration Projects and the Development of Knowledge Exchange Toolkit.
As a welcome development, the Thailand counterparts expressed their willingness for reciprocal technical arrangements to include agricultural finance dimensions, in addition to the current focus on agricultural cooperative capacity building.
The Working Group delegation for the Philippines is headed by Assistant Secretary Noel A. Padre of the Department of Agriculture (DA). Members are representatives from the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC)-DA, National Dairy Authority (NDA), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-DA, Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM)-DA, Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the CDA. The CDA was represented by its Deputy Administrator for IDS, Mr. Ray R. Elevazo. The facilitation and coordination between Philippines and Thailand counterparts were made by the Philippine Agriculture Office, Embassy of the Philippines, Bangkok, Thailand.
Aside from the CDA Proposal, the 3rd PH-TH JAWG tackled several agenda items, proposals and updates, among which were the following: Community-Based Dairy Production and Product Development, Knowledge Sharing on Quality and Safety along the Production, Processing and Distribution of Milk and Milk Products, Capacity Enhancement on Innovative Composting Technologies, Microbial Inoculant Production, and Wastewater Use in Support to Circular Agriculture, Advancing Agriculture through Nanotechnology Innovation, Knowledge Exchange Project on Participatory Irrigation Management, Cultivation of Seahorses for Release in the Wild, among others, as well as other new proposals.
The 3rd TH-PH JAWG was Chaired by Deputy Permanent Secretary, Dr. Thawon Thunjai, MOAC, Kingdom of Thailand, and Co-Chaired by Assistant Secretary Noel A. Padre of the DA, Republic of the Philippines. (RR Elevazo, CDA IDS)
