2 business deals inked in Kuala Lumpur today

KUALA LUMPUR (Via PLDT) — Two agreements between Filipino and Malaysian businessmen will be signed today while the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) are set to open talks on a possible gas pipeline link.

Earlier, President Arroyo asked Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad to consider the possibility of investing in the palm oil industry in Mindanao where she said some 165,000 hectares of land are available.

The President made the proposal when Dr. Mahathir paid a courtesy call on her at her suite in Shangri-La Hotel where she is billeted.

Mahathir told President Arroyo that Malaysia, the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, will look into the proposal.

Mrs. Arroyo will witness the signing today at the Shangri-La Hotel of two joint venture deals and five other private business cooperation agreements to highlight the President’s two-day state visit here.

To be signed today are agreements of cooperation between the following private business groups: Semi-Conductor and Electronic Industries in the Philippines and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Malaysian Electrical and Electronics Association; the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia; the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia; a memorandum of understanding to establish a Supreme Council of Malaysia-Philippines Business Council and the Philippines-Malaysia Business Council; and the Asian Institute of Management and the Melewar Academia for the AIM Center for Entrepreneurship.

The two joint venture agreements involve the RFM companies of businessman leader Jose Concepcion Jr. who is among the 53-man private sector delegation in the official entourage of President Arroyo here.

The first is a P300-million agreement between RFM and Iglo of Malaysia Sdn Berhad for the setting up in the Philippines of a modern cold storage plant for the fruit exports of RFM.

The second agreement, Concepcion said, is a joint venture deal between Selecta Walls Inc. and Unilever Thai Holdings Ltd. in which Selecta will tap the ice cream market in South East Asia. This agreement will be signed by his son, John Marie Concepcion.

Energy Secretary Vince Perez, who is among the 10 Cabinet members in the official entourage of President Arroyo, is also working out a possible joint venture agreement between PNOC and Petronas.

Perez told The STAR yesterday he has started discussions with his Malaysian counterparts. Participating in the discussions is PNOC president and chief executive officer Thelmo Cunanan.

Perez said they are looking at the possibility of extending the Malampaya natural gas pipeline from Palawan all the way down to the southern tip of Luzon.

Interviewed by the Malaysian Straits Times in Manila before she embarked on her state visit here, President Arroyo said Petronas had expressed interest in the project.