(In photo, L-R: SEIPI President Dr. Dan Lachica, DOE Chief Science Research Specialist Lisa Go, IBPAP President and CEO Jack Madrid, Van der Knaap Group of Companies CFO John van Adrichem, Van der Knaap Supply Chain Manager Erwin van Deijnen, Coco Sustrates Director of Van der Knaap Jelte Veenstra, DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual, DTI Undersecretary Kim B. Lokin, PTIC-Brussels Commercial Counsellor and Director Magnolia Misola-Ashley, BOI Executive Director Evariste Cagatan, BOI Director Lanie Dormiendo, and DOE Asst. Sec. Mylene Capongcol)
The Philippine delegation led by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual expressed business interest in setting up a pilot factory for cocopeats in the country during their recent visit to the Research and Development (R&D) Center of the Van Der Knaap in the Netherlands.
The DTI Secretary underscored the Philippines has the largest area devoted to coconut farms and the second largest coconut producer in the world.
He mentioned, “The Philippines is strategically located and our natural geographic resources are amongst the competitive advantages we can offer, particularly to investments in the agricultural area. Agriculture remains one of the key priorities of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as we aim to modernize and innovate agricultural processes in the country.”
Van der Knaap Group is a Dutch family business that has been active for more than 40 years in the supply of substrates and growing mediums to the worldwide professional horticulture. The company is widely known in processing cocopeat, a substrate raw material that is made from coconut husks.
During the visit, Secretary Pascual cited, aside from the huge domestic market of the Philippines, its market also extends to more than 600 million people through the country’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). In particular, the FTA with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states of Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, provides the Philippines duty-free market access to all industrial and fisheries products to the member states.
Further, noting tariff concessions were also secured to all the Philippine agriculture exports to EFTA, he advised the company to register all-qualified manufacturing activities, including agro-processing under Tier 1 of the 2020 Investment Priority Plan (IPP), which can also be upgraded to Tier 2 or 3 of the Strategic IPP, depending on the production that they will establish.
Secretary Pascual also highlighted that in June 2021, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) launched its Coconut Farmers’ Industry Roadmap (COCOFIRM) 2021- 2040, which identifies seven strategies to achieve the goal of creating a globally competitive coconut industry.
Eyeing the possibility of a partnership between Van der Knaap and the PCA, he expressed optimism in seeing the Dutch company’s investment in the country, which will not only drive strong business for them, but also provide high-quality and better-paying jobs for Filipinos.
“I look forward to our joint commitment in working towards the development of the coconut industry. With our huge resources in this area, I believe that we can unlock unrealized potentials that can help both countries in achieving agricultural sustainability,” Secretary Pascual added.
