Malaysian firm eyes sugarland outside Luisita

MANILA, Philippines - A Malaysian firm is interested in investing in the sugar land outside Hacienda Luisita which is also being pursued by the richest man in China, the government reported over the weekend.

Zong Qing Hou, chairman and general manager of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. Ltd. in Shanghai, has already expressed interest in investing P1 billion for a sugar plantation in Pampanga and Tarlac.

In an interview with reporters, Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said that during his last visit to Malaysia, a firm has signified their interest in investing in the same plantation.

The Wahaha Group has not yet answered the project proposal sent by Escaler’s Sweet Crystals Integrated Sugar Mills Corp. 

“We have given them the financial projections but up to now there is still no feedback,” Panlilio said.

 He explained that Wahaha will be trading the sugar that they will be harvesting in the country in New York or other trading places in order to leverage their costs. Sugar is the largest cost of Wahaha.

Panlilio said that Wahaha would like to source their sugar from the Philippines. Wahaha is the leading beverage maker in China. It consumes as much as 300,000 tons of sugar annually. This represents 13.6 percent of the Philippines’ 2.2 million metric ton yearly production of sugar.

Panlilio said that if both the Chinese and the Malaysians will invest in sugar in the country, Panlilio said that the Malaysians can opt to go to Isabela where there is a 6,000 hectare sugar plantation. Panlilio said that there is already a sugar plantation in Cagayan owned by the Gokongwei family.