A BIODIESEL firm in Madrid, Spain, is planning to invest $200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said Bionor Transformacion SA, a well-established global multifeedstock company, disclosed its plans to invest in the country’s biofuel sector during the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between AME Bioenergy Corp. and the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. (PADCC).

AME, which was appointed the key integrator for Bionor in the Philippines, was tasked to identify suitable jatropha plantation sites, consolidated lands, organize and train farm labor, use appropriate cultivation and agronomic practices, organize local support to install plantation infrastructure, and study the cost structure for production to determine and recommend to Bionor whether its planned jathropa-development project is economically viable and internationally competitive.

Meanwhile, PADCC will assist AME in these aspects and will mobilize the resources of the DA’s agencies and bureaus, as well as financial institutions to help realize Bionor’s plans.

The MOA between AME and PADCC was signed on November 16 by AME president Eugenio Puyat II and PADCC president Marriz Agbon.

Bionor’s main thrust, Yap said, is to develop feedstock plantations worldwide using raw materials that do not compete with the food sector and do not lead to deforestation.

“This is why Bionor is tapping jatropha, a non-food crop, to support the requirements of its refineries,” Yap said.

Bionor is currently operating two biodiesel plants in Spain and Italy with a combined output of 125,000 metric tons (MT). It is also constructing an additional five plants in Spain and Brazil to increase its production of methyl ester to over 1 million metric tons.

In January President Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9367, or the biofuels law, which aims to ease the country’s dependence on imported, dollar-draining and pollution-generating energy sources by making the blending of ethanol and coco biodiesel in petroleum products mandatory.

RA 9367 also provides a package of incentives for investors in the biofuels sector, including exemptions from the payment of specific and value-added taxes; and financing for those engaged in the production, handling and transport of biofuel and biofuel feedstock.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—At a forum with members of Filipino and Taiwanese business councils at the Formosa Hall of Subic Bay Gateway Park (SBGP), Dr. Raymond Ricardo, president and chief executive officer of TotalMED, said the medical-tourism market in Subic and Clark, has “huge potential.”

A BIODIESEL firm in Madrid, Spain, is planning to invest $200 million in the Philippines to develop at least 100,000 hectares of land into jatropha plantations, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

LOCAL property developers and other stakeholders in the retirement industry should start getting their acts together and sell the Philippines as one and not just their individual projects for the country to get a bigger pie of the global retirement market.

THOUGH the government has yet to finalize its plans on how to divest off its shares at the state-run explorations company, Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves told reporters that the bidding for the government’s remaining stake in Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) will be undertaken next year.

AMID opposition raised by legislators on the privatization of the country’s power lines business, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) remains confident the bidding for the 25-year concession contract for the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) will push through as scheduled on December 12.

RESTRICTIVE provisions in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) law should be amended if the farm sector is to become a top contributor to the country’s economy, Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), said.