Philippine Chargé d’Affaires Marcos A.S. Punsalang (center) poses with ASEAN Embassy officials and

family members after harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and other organic produce

(Santiago, 10 February 2018) – The Philippine Embassy in Chile, in close coordination with the Vietnamese Embassy, led the ASEAN Committee in Santiago (ACS) in harvesting organic produce at the Semillas Takii Farm in the Chilean City of Paine.  The activity was organized as part of the trade and socio-cultural activities of the ACS, which is presently chaired by the Philippines. 

ACS officials and staff, as well as members of their families, were treated to a half-day of manually harvesting organic cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, bunching onions and small sweet peppers.  Mr. Yutuka Toba, Deputy General Manager of Semillas Takii Chile LTDA, provided a backgrounder about the farm’s history, and discussed specialized farming and harvesting techniques unique to Takii Farm.  He also highlighted the crucial health benefits of consuming organic produce as opposed to their regularly farmed equivalent.  

ACS officials discussed key agricultural and trade opportunities arising from the Takii Farm visit, including prospective exchanges of best practices between individual ASEAN member countries and Chile in the agricultural sector.

The Philippine Embassy has more trade and socio-cultural activities planned for the ACS until the end of its chairmanship on 31 March 2018.  The ACS is composed of the embassies of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam END