GMA launches banana, poultry projects in Davao

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – President Arroyo launched yesterday more that P565 million worth of banana and poultry projects based here in Davao City in an effort to generate more employment and provide livelihood to residents in Southern Mindanao.

“These are among our flagship projects that we have thought of when the recession started in the United States and with the downfall of the Lehman Brothers. These were purposely to help address the unemployment problem,” said the President, who arrived here at around 10 a.m. to spearhead the launching of the two projects.

The President said that projects such as the P500 million Saba Banana Integrated Development Program and the P65 million virtual poultry farming that she launched yesterday, helped bring down the country’s unemployment rate.

“It is when countries like Canada increased their unemployment rate that ours decreased and instead our employment rate increased because of such projects that we have put in place, the President said.

She cited the management of Sagrex Food Inc., for initiating the saba Banana Integrated Development Program which will process fresh Saba banana variety into microwavable chips, fries and rolls both for local and export markets.

Ferdinand Marañon, of Sagrex Food Inc., said the export of the said banana products is expected to generate $12 million in revenue each year with ready markets such as the United States, Canada and the Middle East. The saba banana products shall also be exported to other potential markets like Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia.

Contract growing system is also being considered to ensure steady supply of saba banana.

Poultry

The Chief Executive also launched the P65 million virtual poultry farming project aimed to help overseas Filipino workers in properly investing their income.

Mindanao Business Council chair and Maharlika Agro-Venture Corp. president Vicente Lao said the project is in cooperation with the OFWs who could invest in the poultry farming industry and at the same time they could access the development in their investments through the internet.

“In that way, these overseas Filipino workers would also be overseas Filipino investors. They could check or monitor their investments through the internet wherever they are in the world,” Lao said.

Mrs. Arroyo also noted that the remittances of the country’s OFWs doubled from $8 billion when she started her presidency in 2001 to $17 billion levels in 2009.

“It shows that our OFWs know that they could invest their money in our country through such projects,” the President said.