MANILA -- The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the PHP30-million project of All Bright Resources International Inc. to produce and export coco coir and coco peat.
In a statement Tuesday, BOI said the project is qualified under the 2017 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) for the production and manufacture of export products, in which at least 70 percent of the products should be for the export market.
All Bright will be exporting 100 percent of its production to China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries.
The company’s plant, located in Sta. Maria, Davao del Sur, sources its raw materials from the farmers of Malita, Sta. Maria, Kidapawan, and other municipalities in the province.
The facility has an annual production capacity of 6,327 metric tons (MT) of coco coir and 5,062 MT of coco peat. Its commercial operation began last September, employing 124 personnel.
“This project will hopefully usher the coconut industry to fully explore its potential, not only as one of the most nutritional products but also one of the most versatile ones in terms of consumer products, given its multiple uses,” said Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head, Ceferino Rodolfo.
The BOI also noted that this kind of project is in line with the administration’s push to ramp up coconut production, after the El Niño phenomenon affected last year’s coco production.
“We are already one of the world’s leading exporters of coconut products despite the dip in production last year due to the bad weather. But I am confident that with favorable weather conditions, the industry will have a resurgence this year,” BOI Governor Napoleon Concepcion said.
For the first seven months of the year, exports of coconut products increased by 58 percent to USD1.09 billion from USD683 million in the same period in 2016. (PNA)
