Argentina firm mulls Philippines for 1st international venture

MANILA, Philippines — Argentina’s biggest manufacturer of savory additives and plant-based ingredients for the food industry has chosen the Philippines as its first international destination, indicating plans to put up a manufacturing facility in the country.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Farmesa expressed its plan to set up a seaweeds processing plant in the Philippines with an initial investment of P300 million.

Lopez met with Farmesa’s head of international group Agustin Perez on the sidelines of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Buenos Aires.

Perez said aside from the big potential of locally sourcing seaweeds in the country, he also finds the Philippine business environment stable and its economy very dynamic, adding to the company’s confidence in pursuing expansion into the Philippines.

Farmesa is an Argentinian family enterprise that specializes in the research and development, production and exportation of food additives and ingredients to several food companies worldwide.

Lopez welcomed Farmesa’s decision to choose the Philippines ahead of other countries for the company’s expansion.

The planned facility in the Philippines will be the company’s first manufacturing operations outside Argentina.

Lopez said Farmesa’s expansion plans in the country would bring the company closer to both the source of their main ingredient as well as the market of their products.

“The availability of raw materials plus the strategic location of the country factored highly in the company’s evaluation. They currently had to source seaweeds from several Asian countries and bring it to Argentina for processing. Now they can focus their sourcing in the Philippines and do the processing right in the country. While they have existing client companies, they plan to export bulk of their production,” he said.

“They recognize as well the potential of harnessing the free trade agreement and GSP trade arrangements that the Philippines has with other countries in the region as well as in US and EU,” Lopez added.