Tuesday, October 31, 2006 Pact for $20M ethanol project in Negros inked in China By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
THE Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) Monday lauded the signing of memorandum of agreement of the $20 million ethanol project to be established in Negros Occidental.
The agreement was inked by the China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd (CAMCE) and Negros Southern Integrated Biofuels Company (NSIBC).
The agreement was realized through the efforts of Representative Ignacio T. Arroyo Jr. and was signed by Aurelio Lacson of NSIBC and Luo Yan, CAMCE president.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has also witnessed the signing which according to Representative Arroyo was a historic event that will boost Negros economy.
Lacson said this will pave the way for the establishment of the ethanol plant in Murcia town and another one at Dacongcogon Sugar Central in Southern Negros.
He said this will also create more job opportunities for at least 5,000 people outside of the plant and another 1,000 inside the plant.
On the other hand, Luo Zhao Hui, spokesman of CAMCE said that they will be bringing in machineries and equipment from China but will be utilizing the local workforce as well as local materials for the construction of the ethanol plant.
Both parties agreed to appoint relevant personnel to meet within a week after the submission of the offer to discuss in detail the procedures for the acquisition and financing and the EPC obligations, either in the Philippines or in China.
MBCCI President Roberto Montelibano, meanwhile, stressed that Monday’s MOA signing in Nanning, China was one glaring manifestation that ethanol production will soon be a “big deal” in Negros.
As soon as the ethanol bill will finally be approved in the conference committee between the Senate and Congress in November, the country will make a full-blast implementation of the ethanol project at the start of next year.
Based on conservative estimate, we need to have at least 15 ethanol plants established all over the country to meet the demand for ethanol as blending materials for natural gasoline, Montelibano said.
In Negros, we need only two to three plants to meet with the colatilla aimed also at protecting the sugar production and to avert any hike in sugar prices.
This as Montelibano explained that if ethanol production will be given more emphasis, then it might be that sugar production will be affected that will result later to scarcity of sugar.
If this happen, sugar prices will also soar and this is not good to our economy, he also said.
Meanwhile, also witnessing the MOA signing in China were First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Representative Arroyo, Bacolod Lone District Congressman Monico Puentevella, China Ambassador Li Jinjin, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and other officials of CAMCE.
Meanwhile, another signing took place for B.M.SB Integrated Biofuels between Lacson and Yan for the same project.
Aside from the two projects, President Arroyo also witnessed the agreement signing of three other projects to be undertaken by Chinese firms in the Philippines, as part of the strengthening of the trade relations between the two countries.
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