CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija (December 10, 2025)—Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said that Nueva Ecija will reinforce its status as the epicenter of agricultural modernization in the country with the multi-phased plan of Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Complex (KAMIC) to develop a full-scale agricultural manufacturing complex in the province.
On Wednesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the ground breaking on the multi-billion-peso facility that KAMIC will build in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and Local Government Unit (LGU) of Cabanatuan City.
Secretary Tiu Laurel said the project, backed by the Korea Agricultural Machinery Cooperative (KAMICO), will be the Philippines’ most ambitious step yet towards agricultural industrialization to date.
KAMICO—representing Korean agri-machinery manufacturers and credited for driving Korea’s own farm mechanization since 1962—is set to bring its expertise to the Philippines through a long-term manufacturing partnership with the DA and LGU Cabanatuan City.
“This is a historic leap. For the first time, we are building not just a distribution base for imported machines, but a full local manufacturing ecosystem that will eventually produce agricultural machinery designed to better suit the Philippines’ agricultural conditions” Sec. Tiu Laurel said.
The KAMIC will rise on a 20-hectare site in Brgy. Kalikid Sur, identified and approved jointly by the DA and the Cabanatuan City government. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026 and will roll out over three consecutive three-year phases: starting with Phase 1, the Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) Assembly; Phase 2, Completely Knocked Down (CKD) Assembly; and lastly, Manufacturing Assembly for Phase 3.
Tiu Laurel said the initiative will generate “sweeping benefits” for Central Luzon: higher rice productivity, reduced machinery and spare parts costs, new supply chains, and thousands of jobs in assembly, fabrication, and engineering. “Technology transfer from South Korea will elevate the skills of our workforce and make mechanization accessible even for small and medium-scale farmers,” he added.
To further support the modernization push, the DA—through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Modernization and Mechanization, and its Regional Field Office—will distribute machinery and equipment to 44 farmer cooperatives and associations, along with hybrid seeds and foliar inputs to support 22,103 hectares of hybrid rice production for the 2025–2026 dry season.
“This machinery complex is more than just a factory—it is the foundation of modern, competitive, and food-secure Philippine agriculture,” Tiu Laurel said. ### (By DA – OSEC Comms & photo by Jay Morales)
