Sokor firm, Isabela government set to sign $100-million project

MANILA, Philippines - A $100-million project that would convert corn stalks into paper involving South Korea’s CPNP Holdings the world’s 7th largest paper and pulp manufacturing company and the province of Isabela is expected to generate direct employment for more than 500 people and benefit thousands of corn farmers in Isabela.

The memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the two – which will jumpstart the project – will be signed at 5 p.m. today at the Manila Polo Club by CPNP chairman Park Jong Bong and Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy Jr. and witnessed by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala.

CPNP is erecting its factory on a 50-hectare area in Cauayan, Isabela that will be expanded to a total of 100 hectares in the next two years. Production capacity is expected to be 40,000 metric tons (MT) of pulp per year utilizing 150,000MT of corn stalks as raw materials from Isabela’s corn farms.

CPNP Holdings together with the US-based Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) will be investing $40 million for the first phase of the project and another $60 million for its second phase.

To undertake the enterprise, CPNP Isabela Philippines, Inc. will be incorporated and subsequently registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as an export enterprise.

The project’s Philippine proponents are Filipino entrepreneur Alfred Joseph. S. Araneta and Manila-based Korean trader Lee, Hyun-Suk. According to Araneta, “This investment is a coup for the Philippines as this project was on its way to another ASEAN country.”

Lee added that “The all-out support of the provincial government of Isabela, specifically Gov. Faustino Dy, Jr. for this project is what made CPNP decide to locate in the Philippines.”