Qatar firm seeks partner for $500-M PH dairy venture     

MANILA,  Philippines – Qatar’s leading dairy producer has intensified its search for local partners to establish a $500-million integrated dairy facility in the Philippines, a venture requiring at least 5,000 hectares of land to accommodate foraging, a dairy farm and processing facilities.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) on Friday posted this opportunity for a business partnership with agricultural firm Baladna of Qatar, saying that interested parties could contact them for an endorsement.

The PCCI added that Baladna was looking for partners for four other ventures: Safe Innovation Hub and Mariculture Park in Sual, Pangasinan; General Santos City Agro-Industrial Hub; Cotabato Agro-Industrial Park and South Cotabato Integrated Food Terminal.

Baladna Qatar is touted as the largest locally-owned food and dairy producer in the Middle Eastern state, supplying more than 95 percent of its dairy requirements.

The integrated dairy production project was first revealed in February of last year, when Baladna Qatar signed a partnership agreement with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the initiative.

The planned $500-million dairy facility is projected to increase local milk production by 120 million liters annually, and generate 2,000 new jobs during the initial phase of its first full year of operations.

The DA had welcomed the plan, citing that it would help jumpstart “catalytic investments” in the Philippine dairy industry to contribute to food security, local milk production and processing.

William Dar, who was then the agriculture secretary, said that the majority of the Philippines’ annual dairy requirement was supplied by importers and processors. The country is a big importer of dairy products, particularly milk powder.

In November of last year, National Dairy Authority (NDA) officer in charge Farrel Benjelix Magtoto told the Inquirer that the Philippines was consuming about 3 billion liters of milk yearly, about three times its local production capacity.

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