The Philippines has partnered with the Czech Republic for agricultural exchanges, ushering a new dawn in bilateral trade especially in dairy production.

Talks began during a March tour to Prague by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with his Department of Agriculture (DA)’s delegation. 

A followup visit to Manila by the Czech Republic’s Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny confirmed three key areas of co-operation. These included dairy production, livestock and water technology.

Czech’s Dairy Technology Platform

Among the breakthroughs for the Philippine side is exclusive access to a Czech online platform, which deals with dairy solutions.

The platform recommends dairy farming equipment and even assists to make contact with the authentic makers of these products.

Key solutions include provision of breeding cattle, milk processing technologies and milk storage means. As such, the Czech Republic is a bastion of dairy product innovations and it can help Manila overcome domestic dairy challenges.

One of the biggest challenges is that the Philippines has to import 99% of its milk-related needs, according to DA.

These imports, including bull’s sperm, breeding stocks and processed dairy products come from the United States and New Zealand.

The Czech Republic could bridge the import gap, given that since 2015 it has been boosting its existing dairy innovations.  These innovations have ranged from adding value to long-life milk to the production of healthier dairy goods.

Collaboration in other Areas

It is not just dairy, however, that has ignited the current bilateral relations. There are also training and work opportunities for Filipino agriculturalists in Prague.

Training via the online platform will help locals become adept in agricultural tech and help boost farm shipments to Europe.

All top 3 Europe-bound agricultural exports by the Philippines are non-livestock, namely crude coconut oil, tuna and dry coconut.

Alongside bananas and pineapples, this product trio currently receives preferential access to the European Union (EU) market, meaning low tariffs.

Exports of agricultural goods by the Philippines to the EU in 2021 generated $1.39 billion, or 16.3% of all exports.

It is therefore through bilateral partnerships such as dairy technology exchanges that the country can boost its EU market penetration.