COTABATO CITY”•The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has approved 50 more hectares of corporate banana farms’ expansion worth P290 million in Maguindanao, the Regional Board of Investments said Wednesday.
Lawyer Ishak Mastura, RBOI chairman and managing executive, said the board approved the capital investment on Cavendish banana by an all-Filipino firm owned and managed by the Ekasalam AgriVentures in Kauran, Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
The company has established potential access to the international market, particularly Bahrain and other Middle East countries.
Mastura said the project reaffirms that Maguindanao Province remains the top investment hub of the ARMM in terms of agriculture.
“Last year, the agency registered non-agriculture projects. But this time, the ARMM is back to agricultural investments, as indicated by the applications submitted to RBOI. Most of the investments now in the pipeline are agriculture based,” he said.
As part of ARMM fiscal incentives on long-term land investments, the regional government also granted income tax holidays to Ekasalam Agri-Ventures for six years, in addition to other incentives provided by the government upon the start of its commercial operations.
The company will initially develop a 50-hectare Cavendish banana plantation and will later expand to a total of 250 hectares. The initial operation is expected to generate 265 jobs for local residents.
In a statement, ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman described the Ekasalam project as a “breakthrough” in that most investors in the ARMM are not from the region.
“But now we have pure locals who are bold enough to establish a multi-million project,” Hataman said.
“The banana fruit is very important to Filipinos not just because of its food nutritive value, but also it is a source of income, and is generating employment, aside from being a top export product,” he added.
According to the Bureau of Agriculture and Statistics, the current level of RBOI registration for agriculture-based banana production is placing ARMM on the map of the top banana-producing provinces of Mindanao, Hataman said.