Representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations were welcomed to UPV last October 18, 2024. The group visited the different research facilities of the university for potential research collaborations.

The FAO representatives were: Dr. Lionel Dabbadie, FAO Representative to the Philippines; Ms. Rebeca Andong, SSF Team Leader; Ms. Mele Tauati, FAO Headquarters Fishery Officer; and Mr. Ruben Sanchez Daroqui, FAO Headquarters SSF Consultant.

The first stop was the UPV Regional Research Center Building. They toured around the facility to see various research outputs and the current conducted ones; high-end equipment housed in the building were shown. They also inspected the Philippine Genome Center Visayas laboratories to see significant genomic research activities conducted, especially COVID genomic sequencing and strain identification.

With high interest in food security and sustainability, the representatives witnessed the research set ups of seaweeds, tilapia, blood cockles and green mussels in the CFOS-IA Multi-species Hatchery Complex.

The closing of this one-day visit was in the Coastline 5023:Fisheries Technology Business Incubator (FTBI) Building with a brief orientation on how various researches and technologies of the university were being translated into viable and commercialized technologies.

VCRE Prof. Encarnación Emilia S. Yap and Prof. Mary Grace Sedanza, Director of the RRC ushered the group to these facilities and discussed the research core and undertakings of UPV.

UP Visayas recognizes linking to international collaborators to strengthen networks and partnership for the elevation of globally-competitive research collaborations of the university.