China's richest man mulls tieup for beverage business in RP

MANILA, Philippines - China’s richest man has expressed interest in investing in the country and is considering a partnership with manufacturing giant Liwayway Co. (International), Ltd., maker of Oishi food products, for a possible beverage manufacturing company in the Philippines.

Trade and Industry Secretary Jesli A. Lapus said that while he was in Shanghai, he met with Zong Qing Hou, chairman and general manager of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. Ltd. who expressed his desire to put up a manufacturing plant here in the country with Liwayway Co. owner Carlos Chan.

“They want a joint venture possibly with Carlos Chan,” Lapus said.

Chan has 12 companies all over mainland China where they produce over 50 variants of salty snacks, cereals, popcorn, cookies, powdered juices and sauces.

Lapus did not reveal the timetable for the investment but said that aside from putting up a plant here, Wahaha would like to buy locally grown calamansi and mango for a new variant of juice drink the company is developing.

When asked if the country can meet the big demand of the company, Lapus said that right now they are working at ensuring that local farmers can meet Wahaha’s demand.

Meanwhile in a previous statement, Zong said that part of the investment plan was to export Hangzhou Wahaha products manufactured in the Philippines to nearby Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take advantage of duty-free trade of goods within the bloc.

Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. Ltd, the leading beverage producer in China, has 150 subsidiaries in 29 provinces. They have 58 production bases with total assets of 30 billion yuan and 30,000 employees.

The main products would include milk drinks, drinking water, juice drinks, tea drinks, health care food, canned food and others. Last year, Wahaha’s operation revenue reached 43.2 billion RMB which represented a 32 percent increase from 2008 figures.