First Pacific interested in big farm projects here

Manila, Philippines -  The Indonesian food unit of Hong-Kong based industrial conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. has expressed interest in putting up a large-scale farm venture in the Philippines.

Citing preliminary talks within management, First Pacific managing director and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk is “interested in principle.”

“We are trying to interest them to invest in plantations here. It has to be the right plantation and the right size because they are big,” Pangilinan said.

To date, the plantations division of Indofood has 254,989 hectares of palm oil, sugarcane and rubber, cocoa and tea farms in Indonesia and Malaysia.

“So they will not come here if you give them 100 or 1,000 hectares, that is too small for them,” Pangilinan said.

The Department of Agriculture is trying to stimulate investor interest in farm ventures by offering large chunks of idle land.

First Pacific, the parent firm of Philippine infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), has a 50.1-percent stake in Indofood. First Pacific also holds shares in Philex Mining Corp. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

“Of course they have to look at the number, how big it is. It must be in crops that they know about [like] sugar, rubber, palm oil and maybe bananas,” Pangilinan said.

Similar in its operations in Malaysia and Indonesia, Indofood might enter into a long-term lease deal for large chunks of land, Pangilinan said.

“If it is long-term lease, we will develop the estate,” he added.

Indofood is one of the world’s largest noodle manufacturers by volume. It is also the largest flour miller in Indonesia, where it has an extensive distribution network.

Late last week, hybrid seeds rice producer SL Agritech Corp. said Pangilinan’s group has earmarked an initial $10 million to develop at least 1,000 hectares of rice lands for commercial farming.

Under the joint venture, SL Agritech would provide the hybrid rice seeds that would be used in large-scale farming as well as the technical assistance.

The Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. (PADCC) and MPIC have so far identified potential areas in Palawan, Occidental Mindoro, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga Sibugay, Davao del Sur, Compostela Valley, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.