Israel offers Philippine agriculture, water management support

MANILA, Philippines — The Israeli government has offered the Philippines support in the areas of agriculture and water management as the country braces for the impact of El Niño, which may last until early next year, Malacañang said yesterday.

During a meeting at Malacañang last Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told President Marcos that his country could collaborate on water management, noting Israel’s vast experience in this sector, according to a statement from the Presidential Communications Office.

“I think that we can work together on the segment of agriculture. I just let you know that our land, 60 percent of our land is desert. But although 60 percent of our land is desert, we were able to provide all our water needs,” Cohen said.

“And I think that we can work together, and let’s say that less import, more export for the Philippines,” he said.

Due to water scarcity, Israel has been reusing large portions of its water resources.

An Israeli expert can visit the Philippines to provide advice, according to Cohen.

Marcos told the Israeli official that the Philippines is looking at Israel and Singapore for best practices that can be imitated.

Marcos said he considers agricultural development as very important for the nation, as he expressed admiration for Israel’s advancement in agriculture.

The President concurrently heads the Department of Agriculture.

“Because when we look at the economy as hard to just test, we said, how do we fix the economy? It always comes down to agriculture first, how to fix every policy, then everything else would be great. So that’s the position that we find ourselves in,” Marcos said.

“So, the offers that you make for assistance and partnership in those two areas are very, very welcome,” he told Cohen.

The Marcos administration has assured that sufficient measures have been formulated to cushion the possible effects of the long dry spell on the agriculture sector.

In February, the Chief Executive approved the creation of a Water Resource Management Office under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to manage the country’s water resources and respond to the current environmental challenges.

Direct flights

Meanwhile, Israel is hoping to launch direct flights to the Philippines next year, according to Cohen.

Israel’s top diplomat raised the plan to establish direct flights between Manila and Tel Aviv to boost the two countries’ tourism and economic ties during his meeting with Marcos.

“There’s another thing that we, both of us, took for an action item – to have a direct flight … your external sea between Israel and the Philippines,” Cohen told the President.

“And I think that we agree that both ministries will work together to have the direct flight, and this is also to bring more business people to come to invest and reach the place between us. So this is also another important action item that we will do,” Cohen added.

The Israeli minister told Filipino and Israeli business groups at a forum in Makati City on Monday that both governments would work together to open direct flights.

“We will start in 2024. I think this will be great news for the tourism industry and the business community,” he said.