Pangilinan's First Pacific to make agricultural investment

May 1, 2013 6:33pm

First Pacific Co. Ltd. CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said Tuesday that his firm is looking into investing in agriculture in the country.

“We expressed to [Agriculture] Secretary Alcala our desire to invest in agriculture in the country. It was a broad-ranging discussion and we have requested them to identify parcels of land which could be available for large-scale commercial farming,” Pangilinan told reporters Tuesday.

“I still don’t know what is available,” he added, but said that the firm is looking for about 240,000 hectares. “Maybe not entirely 240,000, but a sizeable hectarage,” he said. He did not divulge how much the company is planning to invest in the venture.

The businessman added that the group wants to form a company for its agricultural investments in the country with Jakarta-based subsidiary PT Indofood, which operates palm oil, sugar, rubber, coffee and cacao plantations in Indonesia.

“Those are the crops we’re familiar with,” he said. — BM, GMA News