The Philippines, through the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), has partnered with Baladna Qatar Public Shareholding Co. to establish a $500-million (P25.67 billion) integrated dairy facility.
In a statement, the DA said Baladna expressed 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.
The DA added the project will significantly increase local milk production by 120 million liters from the current 26.71 million liters, bringing the country’s total milk production to 146.71 million liters.
The agency noted local demand of milk in the country is at 2,927.04 million liters, bulk of which is imported.
“DA has identified five possible locations for the Baladna project and welcomes the Baladna team in the next few weeks for the site visit in the Philippines. DA will continuously provide the needed support to fast track the implementation of this project in coordination with Department of Trade and Industry and other partner agencies,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in the statement.
Dar added the project, which will be pursued by the DA through the National Dairy Authority, is seen to help jumpstart investments in the Philippine dairy industry to contribute to food security, local milk production and processing leading to agri-industrial development.
The DA also expects the investment to generate 2,000 new jobs during the initial phase of its first full year of operation.
Meanwhile, the DTI said the Board of Investments will facilitate the grant of incentives to the project under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises law, which may also be extended to manufacturers that will be sourcing locally their inputs.
The DA said in 2020, local milk production reached 26.71 million liters, up 9.5 percent from 24.38 million liters in 2019.
Baladna, Qatar’s largest locally-owned food and dairy producer, is involved in raising livestock and production of dairy products including milk, yogurt, cheese, labneh, cream, dessert, juices as well as animal fertilizers.
The company also supplies over 95 percent of Qatar’s fresh dairy products.
