RBOI-ARMM approves P290-M Agri project

COTABATO CITY -- The Regional Board of Investments, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RBOI-ARMM) approved the registration of a Php290 million cavendish banana plantation project owned and managed by EKASALAM AgriVenturesCorporation located in Kauran, Ampatuan, Maguindanao.RBOI chair and managing head, lawyer Ishak Mastura, said that for the first time in the history of RBOI, the project registered is initiated by one hundred percent Filipino investors residing in the locality who managedto link with the international banana market particularly Bahrainand other middle east countries.According to Mastura, the project is a confirmation that Maguindanao Provinceis still the top investment hub of the ARMM in terms of agriculture related projects. Last year, the agency registered non-agri projects but this time, the ARMM is back to agricultural investments basing on the applications submitted to RBOI.Most of the investments now in the pipeline are agri based, Mastura further said.EKASALAM will be granted with fiscal incentives such as Income Tax Holidays (ITH) for six years as well as other incentives being provided by the government upon the start of its commercial operations.The company will initially develop 50 hectares of cavendish banana plantations and will later expand to total of 250 hectares.It is expected to generate 265 jobs.ARMM regional governor, Mujiv Hataman in a statement said that the EKASALAM project is a breakthrough from the norm that most of our investors are from the outside of ARMM but now we have pure locals who are bold enough to establish a multi-million project. The Bananafruit isvery important to Filipinos not just because of its food nutritive value but it is also an income earner, job generator, and top export product. On thisnote, the registration of the project strengthensthe initiative of putting ARMM in the map as fourth top banana producer in Mindanao(BAS 2013) and a key player in the country’s banana industry, Hataman SAID.