Agribusiness in ARMM pushed

The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is ripe for investments— especially in agribusiness and tourism—that will support peace and development, business leaders and members of the Eisenhower Fellows Association of the Philippines (EFAP) said at a recent forum.

John Perrine, chairman of fruit exporting company Unifrutti Philippines, said in a presentation that ARMM is especially suitable for labor-intensive industries that need a verdant environment.

Perrine said that Unifrutti’s lowest-cost, highest-yielding banana and pineapple farms are in ARMM.

The company, Perrine said, is expanding its operations in the ARMM and can help other companies set up operations in the region.

“ARMM leaders want investments because they know these will support peace and livelihood for their people. But companies must learn about the culture and the locals in ARMM, just like they would if they went to invest in Malaysia or Vietnam or anywhere else. We’ve done it, and we can help others do it,” Perrine said.

Dr. Fermin Adriano, a consultant of Mindanao peace and development with the World Bank, said at the forum that agribusiness and tourism are big draws for ARMM, but companies in other industries such as technology and business process outsourcing can also get ahead by investing where costs are very competitive.

Dr. Alfredo Panizales, president and CEO of technology company EA Trilink Corp., said ARMM is the pilot site for the Rural Information and Communications Technology Program of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area, which means the region is poised for an infrastructure boom.

Panizeles manages the only franchisee and licensee to provide telecommunications facilities and services in ARMM.

EA Trilink corporation also implements the rural ICT program for the entire Mindanao and Palawan.

At the end of 2011, private investments in the ARMM reached the P1-billion mark for the first time and this could surge further as “gains of the peace process” encourage more investments, Ishak Mastura, chairman of the ARMM Board of Investments, said.

EFAP honorary chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, in his closing remarks, enjoined business leaders to give ARMM a chance and to talk to local leaders as well as entrepreneurs who have blazed their own trail and who can show how to have a viable and socially responsible operation in ARMM.