Japan firm eyes more pineapple production

MANILA, Philippines — Japanese firm Itochu Corp., through its subsidiary Dole Philippines, aims to boost its pineapple production in the country by 2025, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In a statement, the DTI said Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual met with executives of Japanese firm Itochu Corp. yesterday on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Japan Business Week 2023 in Tokyo, Japan.

“The meeting is a follow-up to the Presidential Visit (PV) in Japan last February when the company entered into a letter of intent (LOI) with DTI on their plan to increase their pineapple production in the Philippines,”the DTI said.

Itochu is one of the largest Japanese trading companies involved in textile, food, energy, chemicals, among many others.

Through its subsidiary, DOLE Philippines, Itochu intends to increase pineapple production volume in the country to one million metric tons by 2025, according to the DTI.

“With 30,000 workers under its employ, the Philippines will remain to be DOLE’s core production base in this whole business,”the DTI said.

The Itochu Manila branch was established in 1956.

Currently, the company has four subsidiary companies in the country, namely Makati Sky Plaza Inc.; ISLA Petroleum & Gas Corp; Dole Philippines; and ACOM Consumer Finance Corp.

Meanwhile, Pascual also had a separate meeting with Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) president Professor Hidetoshi Nishimura during his visit to Japan.

During the meeting, Pascual welcomed the presentation of ERIA on their proposed research and capacity building activities this year in the areas of digital integration, services, and trade facilitation, among others, as well as the digital innovation and sustainable economy center to be launched by this year.

Pascual said the Philippines is keen to collaborate with ERIA’s experts in ongoing initiatives where the region will benefit, such as for the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, the ASEAN Post-2025 Vision, and the establishment of a regional initiative on carbon neutrality.

ERIA is an international organization that was established by an agreement of the leaders of the 16 East Asia Summit (EAS) member countries. Its main role is to conduct research and policy analyses to facilitate the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and to support wider regional community building.

During the opening session of the ASEAN-Japan Business Week, Pascual emphasized that a strengthened collaboration between ASEAN and Japan is a potential powerhouse given the already established foundation of trust over the past half-century.

“As country coordinator for ASEAN-Japan Economic relations, he emphasized that ASEAN and Japan’s strengths are complementary because ASEAN’s young workforce can power up Japan’s economy, and complement its exceptional technological capabilities that ASEAN countries also need,”the DTI said.

Pascual highlighted that ASEAN has seen a rapid growth and is slowly becoming a dynamic hub of economic activity in previous years, emphasizing that it has great potentials due to its young and vibrant population, a growing middle class, and a unifying regional economic community.

“We are at a pivotal moment in history, where ASEAN – an epicenter of global economic growth – and Japan – a country renowned for its technological prowess, can join forces to redefine the future,”Pascual said.

Since the entry into force of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP) in December 2008, the ASEAN-Japan region has grown with a simple growth rate of 23.1 percent from 2008 to 2021. To date, Japan serves as ASEAN’s third largest trading partner.

During the opening session,  Pascual also witnessed the signing of the memorandum of cooperation between the private sector to hold various activities and initiatives such as the ASEAN-Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) for the Young Business Leaders Summit; the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and JETRO Jakarta for the Indonesia-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event and Carbon Neutral Cooperation; the ASEAN BAC and JETRO for another Carbon Neutral Cooperation.