New Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss hopes to establish an Israel-backed agricultural training center in Davao to augment its support for peace and development in the region.

The envoy said the plan is to help not only the communities in the nearby areas but also contribute to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“[I]t’s important for us to partner in this because we are doing the same approach in Israel– for one side we have fighters against terrorism, on the other hand, you have to show that there are other ways to make a living, to get more opportunities, to study, to make money,” Fluss said in a forum on Thursday.

“So this is something that we would like not only to share but also to work with the Philippine government and other donor communities,” he added.

Apart from this, the envoy also seeks to promote closer technology and innovation cooperation between the Philippines and Israel.

As a world leader in agro-technology, Fluss said Israel could share, through Israeli companies, efficient systems on irrigation, storage, and water treatment, among others.

“For example, one company had already introduced here irrigation using irrigating pumps, which are energized by solar panel, so this is one system introduced from Israel,” he shared.

“Israel is not known for solar panels because solar is common knowledge but the management system, the software behind saving energy, and issues on storage, there’s a lot of research and development in Israel on these areas,” he said.

Despite the restrictions posed by the pandemic, Fluss said Israel continues to engage the Philippines to bring businesses together and will continue to do so to introduce technologies in the areas of agriculture, energy, public health.

Aside from agriculture, Philippine-Israeli cooperation in other areas, especially on pandemic response is also continuous.

Previously, two Israeli delegations visited Manila to share their best practices on vaccination rollout and the clinical management of Covid-19 patients.

Israel also turned over several donations throughout the pandemic, including personal protective equipment for front-liners and education equipment to aid in the Philippines’ distance learning arrangement. (PNA)