More Chinese investments coming as RP, China sign 19 agreements, says DA

By Jennifer A. Ng

Reporter

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said more Chinese investments in agribusiness are expected to come in as the Philippines and China sign some 19 agreements valued at P240 billion during the state visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the deals, which would cover investment pledges over the next five to seven years, include a memorandum of agreement (MOA) allowing the Fu Hua Co. of China to invest $3.83 billion in one million hectares of land in the Philippines for the cultivation of hybrid corn, hybrid rice and hybrid sorghum. 

Yap said the MOAs for signing will include a deal that would allow Filipino exporters to enter China's $1-billion fruit market. The MOA on fruit trade would be signed in Malacañang after the Chinese premier attends the 10th Asean-China summit and the 10th Asean Plus Three meeting as part of the rescheduled 12th Asean summit in Cebu City.

"These agreements are expected to further reinforce existing trade and investment ties between Manila and Beijing and herald what China has described as the golden age of bilateral relations between our countries," said Yap, who worked out most of these MOAs during his agricultural trade and investment mission to China last November.

Under the MOA with the Jiangnan Wholesale Market, the DA was able to secure 5,000 square meters of space for Philippine tropical fruits like papaya, bananas, pineapples and mangoes in the largest fruit and vegetable area in China, where 80 percent of its fresh fruits are traded with annual turnovers worth over $1 billion.

Yap disclosed that under the agreement, Filipino exporters would be charged on a commission basis as fee for trading in the Jiangnan Wholesale Market, where their products are assured greater access to the Chinese mainland at lower costs.

Besides these agreements, the DA also worked out a MOA between China National Constructional and Agricultural Machinery Import and Export Corp. (CAMCE) and Palawan Bio-Energy Development Corp. and another between One Cagayan Resource Development Center Inc. and the Nanning Yongkai Industry Group to develop bioethanol plants that would each have a capacity to produce at least 150,000 liters a day.

The array of agriculture and fisheries deals that would be signed during the visit of Premier Wen Jiabao this week also includes:

• MOA with the China CAMCE Engineering Co. Ltd. on the provision of small mobile ice plants and transport facilities to municipal fishery cooperatives and associations;

• MOA with the Guangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences (GAAS) and the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology to increase their techno-demo farm area in Mabalacat, Pampanga from two to 35 hectares.

•  MOA between the Philippine China Fisheries Consortium Inc. and the Xunshan Fishery Co. Ltd. on the breeding and culture of grouper and other high-value species;

• MOA with the China CAMCE Engineering Co. Ltd. for the construction of a shipyard, establishment of a cold storage facility, and the rehabilitation of the Navotas Fish Port Complex;

• MOA between the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and CAMCE on the Candaba Water Resource Project, which aims to develop the swamp area as an as an alternative source of irrigation and potable water;

• MOA with the Agricultural Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to develop an initial 40,000 hectares of agribusiness lands for cassava and sugar for ethanol production for China's domestic consumption;

• MOA on sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) cooperation, which details the modes and areas of cooperation in the implementation and formulation of SPS policies in the Philippines and China;

• MOAs between the Nanning Yongkai Industry Group and  B.M. SB Integrated Biofuels Company and another with  Negros Southern Integrated Biofuels Company to enter into  joint ventures to establish bioethanol plants in the country;

• MOA on a joint venture on fisheries between the Philippine Marine Technology Group Inc. and the Shandong Gaolu Co. Ltd.;

• MOA between Sun Warm Tuna Fishing Corp. and the Guangdong Guangyuan  Fishery Group Co. Ltd. on the breeding and culture of abalone, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and scallops; and

• MOA on cooperation between the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Guangdong Ocean and Fishery Administration

Yap said the DA is also hoping to sign a separate set of agreements with China's largest agricultural investor—the Beidahung Heilongjiang Group—which involves the development of 200,000 hectares of land in the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ).

Beidahung is expected to sign a MOA with E.L. Enterprises Inc. for establishing a $120-million agroindustrial project with all-weather greenhouses for the production and export of quality flowers and off-season vegetables and fruits to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Yap.


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