Senator Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture, will talk about food security and government interventions in agriculture as she will be the guest speaker in the 27th Visayas Area Business Conference and Expo on August 31 at L' Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City.
Frank Carbon, executive director of Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said more than 500 businessmen and local government representatives are expected to attend the conference that will start from August 29 to September 2.
During the business conference, Art Aguilar of the Consultative Committee will talk about the proposal affecting the economy and the federated regions.
“He will tie up with Undersecretary for Development Adoracion Navarro on the discussion about the economic side of the development under the federated region because the discussion now is more on the political side with only a little on the economic side,” Carbon said.
He also pointed out that the discussion about the situation of Boracay is also very important especially that Senator Villar has also been participating in the inquiry.
He also said that farm tourism is also very important at this point and that Villar has been pushing for the program.
Carbon said the Visayan region is now dependent on the tourism industry.
Villar who is the principal author of the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016 encourages farmers and their children to “learn” from the so-called farming schools across the country.
“They will not just become farmers but also businessmen operating their farms as a small business,” she added.
Villar said a study by the Philippine Institute for Development showed that farmers lacked the technology, among others, to improve their lot.
Carbon encouraged businessmen and entrepreneurs to attend the seminars and exposition during the event.