PHL mulls creation of coco industry hub for Asia

To encourage investments and establish the Philippines as the center of coconut oil trade in Asia, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) are mulling over the creation of a 150-hectare industrial estate.

The would contain “... all the support needed by the coconut industry, PCA administrator Euclides Forbes told reporters in a press conference Tuesday, saying this was part of his conversations with Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

"The goal is to have a center of coconut oil market in Asia... that will give our oil a good price,"  Forbes noted.

To be established in a coconut-producing province, like Quezon, the coconut industrial estate will provide ways of adding value to coconut-based commodities.

Deliberations on the industrial estate are being held by stakeholders, which the government intends to pursue under the Coconut Industry Development Roadmap, said Forbes.-GMA News (January 29, 2013 5:13PM)