Thai agriculture giant eyes incentives from BOI

Charoen Pokphand Foods Corp., a subsidiary of Thai agro-industrial and food giant CPF, is seeking registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) to enjoy tax breaks and other incentives for its poultry raising business in the Philippines.

In its application for tax incentives and other perks, Charoen Pokphand said it wants to produce live chickens with a weight equivalent of 21,847 metric tons year. The company is applying for pioneer status, BOI said, which comes with income tax holidays for six years.

Registration offers other incentives. Agricultural producers, for example, are also exempted from paying taxes and duties on imported breeding stocks and genetic materials within ten years from the date of registration or commercial operation.

Charoen Pokphand Foods has stock farms at Gerona, Tarlac and at Barangay Partida, San Miguel, Bulacan. It has a hatchery in Jaen, Nueva Ecija. It also has broiler grow-out farms in Bulacan: two in Barangay Buhol na Mangga, San Ildefonso and four in Barangay Magmarale, San Miguel.

In 2007, CPF invested in the Philippines through its direct 99.99 percent holding subsidiary, Charoen Pokphand Foods.

The main businesses include farm operations and feeds distribution. Under the feeds business, the local company manufactures and distributes livestock and aquatic feeds in the Philippines.

The main products are chicken and swine feeds for sale under the “CP” brand. The company also imports shrimp and fish feeds from Thailand for its own use and for sale to customers under the “CP” and “Blanca” brands.

Agriculture, agribusiness and fishery are among the priority sectors listed in the 2012 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) that are eligible for incentives. Other priority sectors are creative industries and knowledge-based services; shipbuilding; mass housing; iron and steel; energy; infrastructure and public private partnership; research and development; green projects; motor vehicles; hospital and medical; disaster prevention, mitigation and recovery projects and strategic projects.

Signed by President Benigno Aquino III in June, the 2012 IPP is “strategically calibrated” to beef up the previous year’s investment generation by presenting new initiatives that will address the existing economic environment and challenges.

The IPP is premised on four critical areas: job generation, enhanced delivery of social services, international competitiveness, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The plan is aligned with the multisectoral Philippine Development Plan, which targets an average 7 to 8 percent growth in the domestic economy per year from 2010 to 2016.