Phl partners with Qatar-based firm for integrated dairy facility

The Philippines has partnered with a Qatar-based firm for the establishment of a $500 million integrated dairy facility in the country, aimed at boosting local milk production.

In a statement, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Baladna Qatar Public Shareholding Co. (QPSC) for the project.

“The DA, through the National Development Authority (NDA), fully support and welcome this new initiative as this will help jumpstart catalytic investments in the Philippine dairy industry to contribute to food security, local milk production and processing, leading to agri-industrial development,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said during his visit to the United Arab Emirates last week.

Baladna QPSC is Qatar’s largest locally-owned food and dairy producer, supplying over 95 percent of the country’s fresh dairy products.

It owns more than 24,000 Holstein cows on its 2.6 million square-meter facility, with 40 state-of-the-art barns, has a daily capacity of producing up to 450 tons of fresh milk and juice products on a daily basis, and has more than 1,650 employees.

According to the DA, Baladna has expressed its interest in setting up a large-scale and fully integrated dairy facility in the Philippines designed to be climate-independent using world-class management systems.

It said the project would significantly increase local milk production by 120 million liters from the current milk production of 26.71 million liters.

“The investments will be able to generate 2,000 new jobs during the initial phase of its first full year of operations, providing significant opportunities for domestic employment,” Dar said.

Dar said the majority of the country’s annual dairy requirement is supplied by importers and processors, as the Philippines is a big importer of dairy products, particularly milk powder.

Baladna said their main consideration for supporting the Philippine government is to level the playing field and foster domestic dairy production.

“DA has already identified five possible locations for the Baladna project and welcomes the Baladna team in the next few weeks for the site visit. DA will continuously provide the needed support to fasttrack the implementation of this project in coordination with DTI and other partner agencies,” Dar said.

For its part, the DTI, through the Board of Investments (BOI) will facilitate the availment of incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law, which may also be extended to manufacturers who will be sourcing locally their inputs.

The DTI and DA have also agreed to work together to look at measures that will level the playing field, such as implementing proper labelling of fresh milk.

In December, the DA created an investment working group to review Baladna’s proposal.

The group was tasked to review the proposal and refer or endorse applicable regulatory requirements to appropriate agencies, as may be needed.

It was also directed to review relevant policies affecting the production, processing, packaging, labeling and marketing or trade of milk and dairy products in the country, and recommend improvements, where necessary, with a view to promote investments and enhance development of the country’s milk and dairy industry.

The group is also in charge of reviewing the policy direction of the dairy industry road map relative to the country’s milk sufficiency target levels and its implementation at the local level, taking into consideration foreign direct investments (FDls), joint ventures and partnerships leading to inclusive agribusiness.