Argentinian firm to put up P300M processing plant in PH

Argentinian food ingredient-producer Farmesa wants to put up a P300-million processing plant in the Philippines, marking its first manufacturing initiative overseas, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said in a statement.

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez met with a top company official on the sidelines of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

DTI said Lopez met with Agustin Perez, who is a director in Farmesa Asia Pacific, to discuss the company’s  plan to put up a seaweeds processing plant in the Philippines.

Citing Perez, DTI said the Philippines would be their first manufacturing operations outside Argentina.

Lopez told reporters in a mobile message that the investment was around P300 milllion.

The company’s official website said Farmesa focuses in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of ingredients and specialties for the entire food industry. Calling itself a leading firm in application-specific additives and ingredients in the food industry, Farmesa provides solutions for food manufacturers in more than 30 countries through research and development.

Further details about the investment, such as its location and plant capacities, were not disclosed. However, according to DTI, the company would take advantage of locally sourcing seaweeds and exporting the “bulk of their production.”

This develops as DTI pushes for the resurgence of the manufacturing industry, which has been performing well in the past years.

“The availability of raw materials plus the strategic location of the country factored highly in the country’s evaluation.  They had  to source seaweeds from several Asian countries and bring it to Argentina for processing,” the statement read.

Moreover, DTI said the company recognized the potential of the Philippines’ efforts to come up with a free trade agreement on top of zero-duty trade preferential arrangements with the United States and the European Union.