All In A Day! SEAFDEC, Inca, Investors Join Cagwait Lobster Development Program

In less than a day after I saw the potentials of Lobster Production in Cagwait, Surigao del Sur yesterday, I was able to link up three important players to start the project – Investor/Market, Technology and Research for Sustainability.
Before I rested my tired body last night in the beautiful Sandscape Hotel fronting the white sand beach of Cagwait, an Iranian investments group, which had been looking for sources of Lobsters for their worldwide market, had pledged to invest in the proposed Cagwait Lobster Production Project.
The Iranian Investments Group is led by an old friend from way back when I was Secretary of Agriculture, Amirh Mogadashi, who is married to a Filipina.
Amirh’s company which owns three cargo planes which will be used in delivering Philippine products from Clark Airport to markets in Asia, committed to support the program to ensure steady supply of Lobsters.
Amirh’s commitment to invest and provide a ready market for the Lobsters produced in Cagwait and other Surigao towns facing the Pacific, completes the three components needed to ensure the success of the project.
Inca Mariculture Plastics, owned by another friend, self-made Filipino entrepreneur Ralph Cabrera, which builds growing cages for Lobster, will provide the technology and the equipment needed by local fisherfolk to grow Lobsters.
Late last night, Dan Baliao, Director General of the Southseast Asia Fisheries Development Center based in Iloilo, also committed to support the program by conducting studies and research on Lobster propagation and growing in the area.
He said he will send a technical team to Cagwait as soon as he receives an official request from Cagwait Mayor Glen Batianila.
The set up is complete – the resource is available, that is the presence of Baby Lobsters, the technology and equipment will be provided by Inca Mariculture, the investments and Market will come from the Iranian Group led by Amirh Mogadashi while the sustainability of the project will be ensured through the research and studies to be conducted by SEAFDEC.
All in a day’s work!
Indeed, the Philippines could be food sufficient if only we know how to link up the key players and how to connect the dots for a Complete Value Chain.
My reward is being able to prove once again that the Philippines could be a major Agriculture and Aquaculture producer if only we discover and develop our resources instead of relying on imports.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#foodsufficientphilippines!