The Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) together with the World Bank (WB) and European Union (EU) officially marked the start of the 15th World Bank Implementation Support Mission (WISM) on April 11, 2023.

The Kick-Off Meeting was led by DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban, WB Task Team Leader Mio Takada, Head of Cooperation at EU Delegation to the Philippines Christoph Wagner, DA Assistant Secretary for Operations and PRDP National Project Director Arnel V. De Mesa, and PRDP National Deputy Project Director Shandy M. Hubilla.

In his message, USEC Panganiban emphasized the importance of the conduct of the said activity in ensuring the proper and successful implementation of subprojects on the ground.

“This 15th ISM is very important to the department, as it is a useful feedback-gathering and monitoring venue for the PRDP Project Team, where we derive inputs to improve and calibrate the PRDP strategies on the ground,” said USEC Panganiban. “Many of the achievements, lessons learned, and best practices that laid down the foundation for recognizing PRDP as a potent platform for agri-fishery-based development emanated from the discussions of the previous ISMs.”

Project Support Office Mindanao joined the activity online. The Mindanao Cluster, who will host the semi-annual activity will be meeting with the project partners from the World Bank Team, European Union Delegation and the National Project Coordination Office when they visit featured subprojects in Region 11 on April 17-19, 2023. (Joy Montecalvo, PSO Min)