19 July 2002 (Business Times) - A GROUP of Malaysian investors have teamedup with the Filipinos to set up a RM28 million palm oil mill in thecentral Philippine province of Bohol.

The joint venture company Philippine Agriculture Land Development and Mill(Palm) Inc, registered with the Philippine Board of Investment (BOI) , hasstarted operations and will produce 29,520 tonnes of crude palm oil and5,760 tonnes of palm kernel every year.

According to a Philippine government official, the palm kernel will befurther processed to extract palm kernel oil.

“By 2012, the mill should be producing at least 87 per cent of itsintended capacity,” the official told Business Times.

The company will sell its output to the domestic market as well asrefineries in Europe, Malaysia, China and India.

The official also said that the BOI had granted the project non-pioneerstatus, which will make it eligible for tax breaks such as exemption fromincome tax for four years.

The Malaysian partners in the joint venture are mostly individuals with anaggregate ownership of just 0.6 per cent of the total project. TheFilipinos own the remaining 99.4 per cent.

Earlier reports had said that prospects were brighter for the palm oilindustry on the island of Cebu, as private investors flex their economicmuscles to augment the Philippine Government’s food security programme inthe countryside.

Efforts in developing the once-criticised oil palm plantation project inBohol were given a boost when the tropical plant, which has some edibleuse, started growing in several interior towns of the province.

According to the official, the local media were impressed with the highearnings potential of the palm oil industry and the project, consideringthat its proponent Palm Inc is locally based and led by banker Richard T.Uy, First Consolidated Bank board chairman.

In Carmen town, particularly in Barangays Matin-ao, La Victoria, Calatravaand Nueva Fuerza, over 300ha have been planted with oil palm. It isunderstood that 14 potential areas have been cultivated. Themultimillion-peso project is integrated with a component of oil millfacility in the northeastern part of the province.

The project is targeting 5,000ha of plantations in 11 towns to support theviability of the proposed palm oil mill.

The ideal target is some 15,000ha in the towns of Talibon, Trinidad, SanMiguel, Getafe, Buenavista, Danao, Dagohoy, Ubay, Sagbayan, Inabanga andAlicia, all in Bohol.

Forward by: burhan@mpob.gov.my