DAVAO CITY– Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo, Jr. has called on investors to pour in their resources in Mindanao for it offers vast opportunities.
Manalo, who is handling the Trade and Investment Promotions Group (TIPG) of the department, said during his recent visit in the city for the 1st Philippine Investment Conference (Phil iCon) that Mindanao offers vast potentials for investments.
Manalo added that Mindanao is a top investment priority for agriculture, agro-industrial food processing, manufacturing, and tourism.
“As the saying goes, agriculture and Mindanao go together like horse and carriage,” he said.
Manalo identified a few examples of how the island-region can leverage agriculture into agro-industrial opportunities.
He said tropical fruits like coconut, mangosteen, banana, pineapple, and papaya are global favourites.
Per data gathered by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippines ranked third among the biggest coconut-producing countries, next to Indonesia and India. Eight of the top 10 producing coconuts in the country are in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, the country was rated first in global share production of copra while coco coir and coco peat are considered traditional export staples.
“Today, beyond traditional coconut exports, value-added products such as desiccated coconut, virgin coconut oil, and now coconut water have started to show significant year-on-year growth. Indeed, coconut has re-emerged as the tree of life,” he said.
Harping further on the enormous potential of coconut, the trade official said the coconut derivatives have now become sought-after ingredients even in high-end cosmetics while the coconut milk and water have been gaining popularity as a healthy beverage in the world market.
Apart from coconut, Manalo said, carrageenan is also another investment opportunity that can be considered especially that it is farmable in the island-region.
In 2011, the country was the world’s top carrageenan producer in terms of production capacity, at 36, 630 metric tons per annum accounting for 40.7 percent of total world production capacity.
“We are the world’s largest exporter of carrageenan, a US$5 billion global market, and as demand for food, organic as well as processed, increases, we are identifying this is a definite for investment opportunity,” he said.
Manalo said the list for agro-industrial opportunities is long, thus, more are still in store for Mindanao apart from coconut and carrageenan.
“Last month (May), our Trade Office in Germany, through our Commercial Attaché, participated in the international Private Label Manufacturing Association’s Conference in Amsterdam. Coming out of the conference, we are excited at the great potential for developing this sector as product differentiator for Philippine exporters,” he said.
Manalo said the conference on Private Label Manufacturing opens doors for huge market potentials in China, the US, and France. These contract manufacturing prospects are vast for tuna, salmon, and processed fruits and vegetables. (DTI-11/JenMendoza)
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