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PRESIDENT Arroyo’s trip to
New Zealand
has generated $1.22 billion in potential investments in
agriculture, mining and wood processing, Malacañang said
on Tuesday.
Some of
the details include what Trade Secretary Peter Favila
reported as a $30-million contract for fresh and
processed tropical fruits including bananas, pineapples
and mangoes; and a $40-million investment in wood
processing.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, on the other hand,
said the New Zealand dairy company Fonterra will send a
team to the
Philippines
to study the viability of processing in the
Philippines
their milk for export, and the potential of carabao milk
for export.
“Prime
Minister Helen Clark said that they are bursting at the
seams right now with dairy so they may have to look for
[other processing sites]. . .So what we are looking at
right now is how we can build up our dairy facilities. .
.and they will come here and take a look at it,” said
Yap.
A Palace
statement said a $1-billion reforestation project in
Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur would be financed by New
Zealand-based CK Tan of Shannolane, while Oceana Gold
Limited has reiterated its plan to invest $150 million
in its newly bought gold mine in Nueva Vizcaya.
The
President met with Oceana Gold chief executive officer
Stephen Orr in Wellington on Monday, where he assured
the Chief Executive that his mining firm is
environment-friendly.
Last
year, Oceana Gold, one of the biggest gold producers in
Australasia, acquired the assets of Climax Mining Ltd.,
which consists of a portfolio of development and
exploration sites in the
Philippines.
Antonio
Olizon, chairman of the Philippine Wood Producers
Association and a member of the presidential delegation,
said the local wood industry would gain some $40 million
from processing raw lumber from New Zealand.
The
President will leave New Zealand on Wednesday and
proceed to Australia for a two-day visit, where she is
expected to witness the signing of the Status of Forces
Agreement, a bilateral defense cooperation agreement to
help professionalize the Armed Forces of the Philippines
and improve the fight against terrorism. |
