Marcos seeks cooperation with private sector to boost agriculture

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. met with members of the Private Sector Advisory Council on Thursday to discuss ways to aid the agriculture sector.

"I thank the members of the Private Sector Advisory Council for joining us in a meeting to discuss and exchange ideas about scaling up our agricultural sector," Marcos, who is also the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, said in a statement.

"It is refreshing to hear ideas from them and I’m excited to establish programs with the cooperation of the private sector to help our farmers," he added.

Joey Concepcion, a council member, said Marcos "really wants to be attuned to the problems of businesses."

"I am part of the Private Sector Advisory Council. I'm the lead for jobs. That council is a big help because the President really wants to be attuned to the problems of businesses, especially in agriculture," said Concepcion, who was the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship during the Duterte administration.

"We want to make sure that the economy will continue to move, to accelerate. Our growth rates cannot stall and for us to be able to do this, there cannot be lockdowns anymore," he said at the Laging Handa briefing on Friday. —VBL, GMA News