Chinese firm to invest P4 B in Philippine ethanol plant
Posted on March 14th, 2010
A Chinese company is looking to invest in the renewable energy in the Philippines. The Wahaha Group Co. Ltd. is mulling to add to its investment in the country, an ethanol plant. The company earlier announced its interest for a joint venture in a fruit juice processing plant.
Mariz Agbon, president of the Philippine Agribusiness Development and Commercial Corp. (PADCC) said that the Philippine delegation will return to China next month to have the the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed by the Wahaha Group. The MOA would formalize the company’s joint venture agreement with Filipino AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) for the fruit juice processing plant.
The same trip also hopes to seal the deal with the Wahaha Group and a still unidentified “local family” for the possible P4-billion investment in an ethanol plant.
“Once the agreements are signed,” Agbon said, “the projects would build momentum since Wahaha has the relevant technologies already.” The Wahaha Group intends to build a bioethanol plant in Misamis Occidental in partnership with a “local family.” Agbon said, the company would get feedstock from 15,000 hectares of sugarcane field.
Based on industry standards, Agbon said the Wahaha Group would need to invest about P4 billion for the ethanol processing plant.
The Wahaha Group originated as a sales department of the Shangcheng District School in Hangzhou in 1987. The Hangzhou Wahaha Nutritional Foods Factory was established in 1989. The Wahaha Group has about 70 subsidiaries and 40 manufacturing centers all over China and employs about 20,000 workers.
The name Wahaha was said to mean “laughing child.” The company is 46 percent owned by the Shangcheng District Government.
