DAVAO CITY—Economic leaders in Mindanao renewed their appeal to top food-producing companies and other business entities to tap and invest in food and agribusiness projects in Mindanao, citing existing productions and potential capacities.
The appeal was issued during the recently concluded Eighth International Food Exhibition (Ifex) Philippines in Metro Manila.
Mindanao was accorded a special focus during the May 12 Ifex and provided a pavilion where exhibitors from the Soccsksargen area (South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City) and the rest of Mindanao exhibited product lines from various plantations and crop production areas.
Luwalhati Antonino, chairman of Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said Mindanao has vast opportunities in agribusiness investments “just waiting to be tapped.”
“The forum opens up many doors and represents a full range of possibilities for Mindanao,” she said.
The special showcase of Mindanao’s best food products in this year’s exhibit was intended to present the island as the best investment area in domestic and international food markets.
MinDA said the southern Philippine island accounts for 40 percent of the country’s food requirement and contributes more than 30 percent of the national food trade.
Mindanao is the major exporter of coconut oil, desiccated coconut, Cavendish bananas, banana chips, fresh and canned pineapples, canned and processed tuna and seaweeds. It also provides corn, sugar, fruits, vegetables, palm oil and fish to the rest of the country.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture said Malungon in Sarangani province is the biggest mango-producing municipality in the country today and is still waiting to be linked up with mango processors and exporters in Luzon.
Lack of facilitation and improvement in marketing and distribution infrastructures still hound Mindanao, however, and Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said providing the logistics would open up increasing investments and trade in Mindanao.
“We have a roll-on, roll-off [Roro] transport system which interconnects the other islands,” Cruz said, adding that the DTI hopes to connect the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East Asean Growth Area with the same technology.
Mindanao 2020, a recently crafted development plan for the island, has “envisioned a progressive and food-secure Mindanao widely recognized as a prominent center for agri-industry, propelled by world-class, socially and environmentally responsible farms and firms.”
