First Pacific eyes agri ventures, with focus on sugar, bananas

MANILA, Philippines - Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. is looking to make a push into Philippine agriculture with particular focus on sugar and bananas to create new revenue streams.

First Pacific managing director and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said the group is excited about the investment opportunities in agriculture even as the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product remained insignificant.

Pangilinan said the group has commenced negotiations with banana growers and is hoping to partner with someone that has a good distribution capability to help sell Philippine bananas.

The Philippines is currently the world’s second-biggest exporter of bananas next to Ecuador. It is also a major banana supplier to Japan, China, South Korea and New Zealand.

The prospective growth for the industry given the country’s abundant natural resources which include 29.81 million hectares of agricultural land, and 5.7 million hectares of arable land.

Pangilinan said the group is also keen on sugar production, which is forecast grow by 37.5 percent to 2.86 million tons by 2015 or 2016.

With the volatile global demand for almost every plantation crops, the sector is seeing major players increasing their participation and new players entering the market.

In the Philippines, First Pacific is present in the telecommunications, power, tollroads, mining and healthcare services and water distribution sectors.

Building on its 2011 best-ever performance, the group through Philippine flagship Metro Pacific Investments Corp. will continue investing in new tollroads and water distribution outside its existing franchise area.

It is also hopeful of making new investments in rail or airport development to help fuel growth.