THE University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) and the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) have agreed to collaborate on agribusiness-related initiatives.

The five-year agreement was signed by Searca Director Glenn Gregorio and UA&P President Winston Conrad Padojinog, with Associate Professor Joselito Florendo, Searca deputy director for administration, and Marya Svetlana Camacho, UA&P vice president for faculty affairs, as witnesses, on May 27 at UA&P in Pasig City.

Gregorio said Searca and UA&P share common priority areas, such as food security and agribusiness, adding that the agreement marks the beginning of joint efforts combining their expertise and resources to effectively respond to the region's needs.

UA&P is a private, not-for-profit institution of higher learning that offers a range of undergraduate and graduate programs, emphasizing a strong liberal arts foundation and professional specialization.

Camacho shared her hope that the partnership would flourish into friendship.

Padojinog said the partnership was a strategic milestone that promises numerous benefits for their respective institutions and the broader community.

"UA&P shares with Searca the commitment to include sustainable development and agricultural advancement to address critical challenges in Southeast Asia agribusiness and food security," Padojinog said.

Meanwhile, Gregorio reiterated the formation of strategic alliances with institutions such as UA&P to develop programs or further enhance existing initiatives to address food security and nutrition challenges in the region.

He cited some of Searca's involvement in projects that highlight academe-industry-government interconnectivity under the Center's 11th Five-Year Plan (FYP) on Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation or Attain.

Other projects Searca is involved in include the formulation of the Philippines' National Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization and Industrialization Plan 2021-2030.

The plan is co-published by Searca and the Department of Agriculture, Asian Development Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and SyCip Gorres Velayo Co./Ernst & Young Philippines.

"We hope that Searca and UA&P's mutual interests will continue as the center moves toward crafting its 12th FYP," Gregorio said.

Gracing the event, Filipino economist Bernardo Villegas, UA&P professor and research director of the Center for Research and Communication of UA&P, noted that the partnership between Searca and UA&P would mean science, business and economics getting together.

Villegas said that capitalizing on UA&P's strength in economics and business and Searca in science and agriculture, "collaborations would contribute to the ongoing efforts to address agriculture and economic challenges in the Philippines and beyond."

He also noted the areas where he sees the Searca and UA&P partnership focusing: consolidation, product diversification, industrialization and digitalization.