The Board of Investments (BOI) has thrown its strong support behind the full development and promotion of the 40-hectare Bukidnon Domestic Industrial Zone in Mindanao as hub for global food producers.
BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said the agency has facilitated the meeting of all stakeholders in Bukidnon to push for the project.
“This endeavor is very promising and we truly believe in Bukidnon’s potential to be a global food manufacturing hub,” said Rodolfo during a recent meeting with Bukidnon local government officials led by Governor Rogelio Neil Roque, Vice Governor Clive D. Quiño, and First District Representative Jose Manuel Alba.
Located at Barangay Dicklum, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, the industrial zone boasts a complete access road, power and water supply and perimeter fences. The industrial zone is also accessible to and from the Mindanao International Container Port and the soon-to-be operational Don Carlos Bukidnon Domestic Airport.
Rodolfo noted that Bukidnon, Southern Philippines’ food basket, is ready to make it happen for global investors particularly food manufacturing players as the province offers to host them through its 40-hectare rich Bukidnon Industrial Zone.
In a statement, Monday, Feb. 13, Rodolfo said that BOI will be inviting global investors and businesses, particularly in the agriculture and food production sectors to invest in the industrial zone noting its competitive advantages.
Bukidnon has a progressive agriculture-based economy with products such as pineapple, tomato, coffee, rubber, cattle, and bamboo.
With high altitude, relatively flat land area, and consistently good weather, Bukidnon also boasts of its competitive advantages for the agri-industry. The province is among the top producers of regular bamboo and has the most abundant supply of Asper or giant bamboo in the country.
The province’s opportunity-driven infrastructure including improved all-weather provincial road networks and enhanced barangay connectivity serve as facilitating factors for greater economic development.
The province already hosts big players in the food production business including Del Monte Philippines. Inc., Republic Biscuit Corporation and Liwayway Marketing Corporation which may help attract similar projects to consider Bukidnon as their investment destination. They are also targeting investors in the Bamboo Industry and those whose activities support sustainable development and reduced carbon footprint.
In the meeting, the Provincial Planning and Development Office of Bukidnon presented the competitive advantages of the province and why the province would be an ideal location for a domestic industrial zone. The BOI, in turn, committed to assist the local government in the promoting the industrial zone by inviting possible developers and locators.
“To realize this, we are proposing to schedule a series of roundtable meetings with industry stakeholders and industrial zone developers in the next three months from January 2023 to solicit inputs and interests and ready the industrial zone for strategic promotions,” he said.
“We are looking at showcasing this kind of investment opportunity in international roadshows in countries like South Korea who can potentially bring their food production facilities to Bukidnon,” Rodolfo said.
The province’s main source of economic prosperity is its rich agricultural land and thriving commercial industry with export activities to other regions and to US markets. With agriculture, forestry and fishery as main economic drivers, Bukidnon is hailed as the 5th richest province in the country in 2022 by the Commission on Audit.