Agriculture dep’t seeks investments from Qatar, China

The investment promotion arm of the Agriculture department is targeting Qatari and Chinese businesses for local farm ventures. Marriz B. Agbon, president of the Philippine Agribusiness Development and Commercial Corp., told reporters last Friday he would head a group that will visit Qatar this month and China in April to try to close deals with businessmen there. Agbon said his group would meet with Qatari Businessmen Association members who he claims to be interested in big-ticket items. "Before, they were just interested in food [such as] basmati rice, bananas and pineapples for export to the Middle East. But now, they want big-ticket items [such as] infrastructure investments in irrigation and power," Agbon said. The Qatari Businessmen Association, he said, is backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, which funds investments overseas. The Qatari Investment Authority has funds of about $1 billion, Agbon said. A similar team will fly to China next month to help finalize a deal in which Hangzhou-based drink maker Wahaha Group Co. Ltd. will import mango puree from listed AgriNurture, Inc. "The initial shipment is about 20 metric tons [daily]," Agbon said. The Chinese beverage company, he said, was not stopping with mango puree and was eyeing a P4-billion investment for a sugarcane plantation with bioethanol distillery in Misamis Occidental. — Kristine Jane R. Liu, BusinessWorld