The city government of Cagayan de Oro in cooperation with the Office of the Consul General of Japan in Davao, recently hosted the first of a series of talks with Japanese companies and local government officials on the Seeds Needs Principle of Collaboration.

The activity, held via Zoom was attended by representatives and pillars in the academe, business and industry, local government units and national line agencies from Northern Mindanao and the Davao regions.

Mr. Toshikazu Mito, Coordinator, Kitakyushu Foundation for the Advancement of Industry, Science and Technology from the local government of Kitakyushu, Japan, shared how the industrial policy of the Kitakyushu city government has been greatly shaped by their close collaboration with and inputs from the academe as well as the industrial sector in their city.

The next talks will be held in January next year, with focus on the agriculture sector. These will directly connect the academe, the local farmers and key players in the agriculture and business sectors to Japanese companies. It is expected that the talks will contribute towards achieving development outcomes for Northern Mindanao and Davao regions.

Seeds Needs is an approach to collaboration which brings together the pillars from the academe, industry and national and local government for joint efforts along innovation and industry sophistication. Seeds Needs aims to link the industry and the academe for industry development policy, and to create a culture of collaboration among industry, academe and government with the end view of advancing further regional development.