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By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
AN AMERICAN fruit canner will invest in the
Philippines, according to the Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI).
On the sidelines of the signing ceremony for a
food security program, Trade Secretary Peter Favila told The Manila
Times that Libby’s will put up a half a billion dollar project in
the country within the year.
Favila said that once the proper documentation
and necessary requirements are met, Libby’s will push through with
its plan to infuse $500 million for its pineapple plantation in
Camarines Norte.
Favila, who is also the National Development Co.
chairman, said he signed the memorandum of agreement with Michael
DeRose, NTC marketing director, for Libby’s Fruits in the US last
week.
“This kind of investment is what [we] really
want, since it is labor intensive and it would help a lot of our
countrymen in the region,” Favila said.
Under the agreement, the Philip-pines would
enjoy a 35-year contract to supply Libby’s with pineapples from
the Bicol region.
Once implemented, the project would benefit
5,000 farming families.
Libby’s Fruits is produced by NTC, a private
company with over 40 years in the food industry and specializing in
tropical fruits.
NTC’s tropical fruit products include
Libby’s pineapple, pineapple juice, tropical fruits such as guava,
red and yellow papaya and sliced mango, tropical mixed fruits and
mandarin orange.
The Libby’s investment is part of the fruits
of President Arroyo’s recent state visit to the US.
The President has been hard-pressed courting
investors, after two multinational logistics providers—Federal
Express and United Parcel Service—closed their Asian hubs in the
former US military base of Clark, north of Manila.
The two logistics giants’ pullout dashed hopes
for the Philippines’ bid to establish the Subic-Clark growth
corridor as a world-class logistics hub in Asia.
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