The Philippine government has tapped a Qatar-based company to establish a $500 million (over P25 billion) integrated dairy facility in the country.
Department of Agriculture William Dar said they discussed the investment, along with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), with the Baladna Qatar Public Shareholding Company (QPSC), adding that the move would jumpstart the catalytic investments in the Philippine dairy industry.
“The DA, through the National Dairy 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,” Dar said.
Dar said that the country is a big importer of dairy products during the event, particularly milk powder.
“In 2020, the Philippine dairy industry was characterized by increasing local milk production and decreasing imports and exports of milk and dairy products. The local milk production reached 26.71 million liters, an increase of 9.5 percent from 24.38 million liters in 2019,” the DA chief reported.
Baladna QPSC, Qatar’s largest locally-owned food and dairy producer, has expressed its interest in setting up a large-scale and fully integrated dairy facility in the Philippines.
The firm produces dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese, labneh, cream, dessert, and juices. It also supplies 95 percent of the country’s fresh dairy products and owns more than 24,000 Holstein cows on its 2.6 million square-meter facility with 40 barns.
According to Dar, the initiative will increase the nation’s milk production by 120 million liters from the current milk production of 26.71 million liters and generate more job opportunities and domestic employment.
“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 in the Philippines. DA will continuously provide the needed support to fast track the implementation of this project in coordination with DTI and other partner agencies,” Dar said.