3/10/ 2005 ZAMBOANGA CITY, (Asia Pulse) - Malaysian and Filipino investorsare set to pour some P16.7 billion (US$298.3 million) investments in oilpalm plantations in three provinces in Western Mindanao once the industryis fully operational.

Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Regional Manager Antonio Bal Faustinosaid an investor has to spend P71,000 for each hectare planted to oil palmand P250 million for each oil mill.

The three investors will have a total of 129,520 hectares of oil palmplantation that would translate to P9.2 billion in investments.

The total investments would reach as high as P16.7 billion to include theP750 million that would be spent in putting up the three oil mills neededfor the oil palm plantation.

The investors have identified some areas in the provinces of ZamboangaSibugay, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte, which have availablevast areas ideal for oil palm cultivation.

These are the Alpha and Firsha Properties Development Corporation, aFilipino-owned company based in Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur that has linkwith Malaysian-backed Tabung Haji-Janoub Philippines, that also engages inoil palm production.

Alpha and Firsha has so far started cultivating oil palm last year in thetowns of Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur and Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay.

The second investor is Han Siew King, a Malaysian investor, who had servedas an agronomist for eight years, from 1972 to 1980, at the former SimeDarby Plantation.

The third, which according to PCA officials is the most ambitious project,is the Filipino-owned Western Mindanao Agro-Forestry and IndustrialDevelopment Association, Inc. (WMAFID).

Faustino said in an interview Tuesday the Alpha and Firsha envisions toput up to 20,000 hectares oil palm plantation with an initial cultivationof 8,000 hectares.

He said that Alpha and Firsha have identified Lakewood town in Zamboangadel Sur as their first site of palm oil planting area.

However, the company later decided just to put up a two-hectare palm oildemo-farm in Lakewood and shifted their focus in Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay,where they have already planted five hectares of palm.

Faustino said King has identified the province of Zamboanga Sibugay as hisplantation site that would encompass the towns of Tungawan and R.T. Lim.

The proposal of WMAFID was said to be the most ambitious project as thecompany envisions to put up to 107,520 hectares oil palm plantation.

Their areas of planting would cover all available areas in the provincesof Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte.

All of their proposals are carefully being studied by us before we willapprove it, Faustino said on King and WMAFID project proposals.