Written by DUCKY PAREDES
‘Apeco is the only economic zone in the country with an agri-aqua component where investors can capitalize on a growing worldwide demand for natural ingredients in what is now being called the biotechnology revolution.’
AURORA province in the north eastern part of the Philippines holds a vast promise of wealth that\ can be “mined” from its rich and fertile land.
It is a kind of “mining” that does not involve digging tunnels, extracting precious metals from the bowels of the earth, using mercury and other chemicals that pollute land and water, or building tailing ponds that could collapse in a severe typhoon and inflict severe damage to the surrounding communities.
Rather, it is a kind of economic activity that produces virtually limitless bounty which not only yields income and livelihood for people, but also protects and preserves the environment. And this comes in the form of agro-industrial ventures through the production, processing and manufacturing of natural ingredients that a growing number of people throughout the world are now turning to, for health and wellness needs.
That promise of wealth is now gradually turning into reality, thanks to the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco) situated in a 12,923-hectare area in the municipality of Casiguran.
Apeco is the only economic zone in the country with an agri-aqua component where investors can capitalize on a growing worldwide demand for natural ingredients in what is now being called the “biotechnology revolution.” This is a welcome development that
involves the increasing use of natural ingredients in cosmetics, perfumery, pharmaceuticals, and as food additives. The international market for natural ingredients is said to have grown into a $400 billion business, especially for global companies.
Available figures show that the major markets for herbals are Europe, which is said to have a 35 percent share; North America, particularly the US, with 24 percent; Japan, 11 percent; and the rest of Asia, 30 percent.
In 2009 alone, the personal care market for natural ingredients already reached $300 billion at the retail level with an eight percent growth rate in the US, while the health and nutrition sector was estimated at $4 billion. As early as 2003, market surveys showed an estimate of $10 billion annually for herbal medicines, with growth rate beyond 10 percent a year. Apeco President and CEO Malcolm I. Sarmiento Jr. always seems to be on a “high” whenever he talks
about the Agri Technopark that they are developing in Casiguran.
Says Sarmiento: “The wealth that the Philippines can obtain from the natural ingredients industry is virtually inexhaustible, because you can always grow the plants, trees and herbs that yield these ingredients. It is an endless cycle of planting and harvesting, the only requirement being that you have to protect the environment
and take care of the land in order to ensure its continued fertility.’’
He points out that people and business firms all over the world have shown a strong and growing bias for natural ingredients. In food manufacturing, these are used as food additives, sweeteners, stabilizers, flavoring, and emulsifiers. In the pharmaceutical industry, these come in the form of aromatic and medicinal plants, herbal medicines, herbal supplements and vegetable alkaloids.
“The Philippines is acknowledged as the seventh most biologically diverse country in the world, and we can cash in on this unique asset. In the cosmetics and perfumery industries, for instance,
there has been a very pronounced shift from chemicals and synthetic materials to natural ingredients,” Sarmiento said.
The pharmaceutical sector, Sarmiento says, can make very profitable use of the natural ingredients industry, considering that we have more than 300 medicinal plant species that we can offer to the world. Some of these, he said, are banaba, ampalaya, lagundi, saluyot, malunggay, luyang dilaw, eucalyptus and rosemary.
As a child, I remember women using the Ilang-Ilang and sampaguita as perfume and wondered, on hearing that ilang-ilang was being exported to France. The leaves of banaba, bayabas and lagundi were being widely used for their medicinal properties. In fact, there are several pharmaceutical firms in the Philippines, like Pascual Laboratories, which have successfully gone into the commercialization of lagundi for the production of anti-cough tablets and syrup.
Other indigenous plants with very promising prospects for investors are yerba buena as an analgesic to treat pain; tsaang gubat for biliary and intestinal colic pain; and sambong which is now being used both as tea and as tablet for diuretic purposes and for the treatment of edema.
“It’s a very great help that our Department of Agriculture has been actively pursuing a biotechnology program through its Biotech Implementation Unit. In fact, my staff and I recently met with
officials of the DA and some of its attached agencies and corporations,” Sarmiento said.
The meeting was intended to smooth out plans for cooperation between Apeco and the DA in this regard, and the two sides are expected to sign memorandums of agreement shortly.
Among the DA officials in that meeting were Director Clarito M. Baron and Dr. Choy Mamaril of the Bureau of Plant Industry; Director Silvino Tejada and Division Chief Larry Hernandez of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management; Director Candida B. Adalla and Project Development Officer Annalyn Lopez of the Biotechnology Implementation Unit; and Director Leandro H. Gazmin and OIC Division Chief Gregoria Santos of the Agribusiness Marketing Assistance Service; Lourdes Cruz of the Marine Science Technology and Aurora Marine Research and Development Institute of the University of the Philippines; and President Marriz Agbon and Project Officer of the Philippine Agricultural Development Commercial Corporation.
But like other government offices and agencies that are perennially short of funds, the DA biotechnology program needs help from other sources to effectively pursue its development plans. And this is where Apeco comes in.
According to Sarmiento, Apeco can provide the land and the processing and production facilities that the DA needs, in effect closing the gap between the department’s plans and implementation.
He said Apeco is setting aside an initial 100 hectares of rich agricultural land for the natural ingredients industry. Investors and locators interested in putting up such facilities will be provided five hectares each for their use.
For expansion requirements, an additional 108 hectares can also be availed of from the Aurora State College of Technology. Sarmiento, by the way, is a former Director of the DA’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and is truly cut out for Apeco. Among the companies that have discussed such investments with Apeco are Sumitomo Corporation of Japan on the production of natural ingredients; while for the processing aspect, the firms include Unilever. which needs 800 metric tons of processed cucumber per year; Unilab for sambong and lagundi; Human Nature for sunflower oil; and Dalisay Farms Corporation which needs ube for its Selecta ice cream and other products.
In a very real sense, Aurora province, with its very own economic zone, can produce what can perhaps be called “green gold”
through its biotechnology program and natural ingredients industry.
