Coco sector attracts P4.3 million investments

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) generated a total of P4.31 million in initial committed investments for the coconut industry through its recent investment forum.

PCA administrator Benjamin Madrigal Jr. reported that 55 potential investors joined the agency’s recent investment forum from Aug. 4 to 6.

The forum was intended to increase exports and provide the coconut farmers livelihood.

It was also aimed at promoting the value addition of coconut products and increase awareness on possible investment prospects brought by new technologies for coconut processing that are ready for commercialization.

“With this forum, we will link our farmer organizations to investment and business opportunities, elevating them to become coconut farmer-entrepreneurs or “cocopreneurs,”Madrigal said.

“Let’s help one another to strengthen our cocopreneurs, our companion towards a progressive economy,”he said.

Apart from the investment forum, the PCA also conducted business-to-business matching sessions to provide an opportunity for farmer organizations to bring Philippine coconut products to the global market.

Madrigal said the meetings resulted in 104 business matches, with at least nine foreign-buyer countries expressing interest for Philippine coconut products.

These countries include France, Canada, China, Japan, Lithuania, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and the US.

A total of 25 buyers participated in the meetings, 10 of which are local buyers, while 15 are foreign buyers.

In addition, 85 Philippine suppliers attended the business-to-business matching sessions.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar earlier cited the need to grow the contribution of the coconut industry to the economy.

“We need to increase the contribution of the coconut subsector to total agricultural gross value added, being the country’s top export product. And with substantial budgetary resources, we could awaken a ‘sleeping giant’ and restore us to a position of global leadership,” Dar earlier said.

From 2014 to 2018, the Philippines ranked as the world’s number one exporter of coconut products, with average export revenues of P91.4 billion, according to the PCA.

“Let’s continue working together, to reach tangible and sustainable results as producers and consumers of coconut products. As we continue to nurture this industry, we strive to innovate and work together as one in order to achieve economic prosperity, particularly among the coconut farming communities,” Dar said.