THREE officials of the Korean government who were in Dagupan last week confirmed that they are giving a $2 million grant, or about P100 million, to Dagupan City.

The confirmation was made by His  Excellency Lim Chae Jung, speaker of the Korean National Assembly; Chung Eui-Yong, a member of the Korean parliament; and Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Hong Jong-Ki.

All these Korean officials, guests of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., reiterated an earlier offer of the Korean government made through Speaker De Venecia to donate the U.S. 2 million dollars to finance the first-ever bangus processing plant in Dagupan City.

Accompanied by De Venecia, the three Korean officials made a whirlwind visit to the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) in barangay Bonuan Binloc before returning to Manila.

At the NIFTDC, they toured the 24-hectare research facility owned by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

De Venecia, who personally sought the financial grant when he was in Seoul, Korea early last year, said  the money  is in the form of a grant to finance the establishment of a bangus processing plant, a pet project of Mayor Benjamin Lim.

   Speaking through an interpreter, the three officials expressed the determination of their government to help the Philippines in further developing its fishery and aquaculture industry.

   The bangus processing plant seeks to give added value to the fresh bangus from the farms so that the same can be marketed worldwide, especially in countries where there are large Filipino communities.

As envisioned by the Dagupan City government, the project will not only provide additional income to bangus producers but also employment to processors, particularly deboners.

De Venecia called on the Dagupan City government to take advantage of the grant because it is a grant and not a loan with no interests to pay, unlike some of the city government’s projects which were undertaken via loans. Once required documents are submitted, the financial grant can be expected to be released sometime this year, as the financial grant has already been approved by the foreign minister of Korea, on the recommendation of Korean Speaker Lim, De Venecia said.–LM

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