Sen. Cynthia Villar will be the keynote speaker during today’s opening ceremony of the 66th Philsutech Annual National Convention at the Waterfront Hotel, Lahug, Cebu City.
Villar, who chairs the Senate Committees on Agriculture and Food, is expected to brief Philsutech members and guests on the direction of the country’s legislative policies on agriculture, particularly those concerning the sugar industry, amidst the growing trend towards import liberalization of agricultural products.
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo C. Labella and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia will grace the event to welcome the delegates.
The presidents of sugarcane planters federations, sugar millers associations and other organizations in the sugar industry traditionally join the entrance parade of officers and guests during the formal opening of the convention, which runs until Friday.
Sugar Regulatory Administrator Hermie Serafica will also address the assembly tomorrow to report on the status of sugar production and demand for Crop Year 2018-2019, as well as provide a glimpse of what sugar producers can expect in the coming Crop Year 2019-2020 which starts on September 1.
More than 1,000 delegates, including foreign delegates and product exhibitors, are participating in the convention, which is the only event where all sugarcane industry stakeholders gather under one roof and inter-act with government policymakers, technology innovators and industry experts from here and abroad.
It is a venue for sugarcane industry stakeholders to share and discuss the latest innovations and technologies that can make sugarcane farming and sugar production more cost-efficient, as well as to exchange ideas on other products which can be derived from sugarcane, such as bio-ethanol, electric power and bio-plastics.
The convention also features product exhibits on farm inputs and equipment, as well as technical presentations in the fields of Sugar Process, Management, Agriculture and Farm Engineering, Factory Engineering and Bio-Energy and Environmental Management.
Yesterday, Philsutech members and convention sponsors engaged in a friendly golf tournament at the Cebu Country Club, followed by the opening of the product exhibits at the convention venue in the afternoon, with Cebu Chamber of Commerce president Virgilio G. Espeleta as the guest speaker.* (Butch S. Bacaoco via NDB)