Sunday, March 12, 2006
Tuna firm seals deal with Indonesian firm
A MAJOR local tuna company is expanding to Indonesia through a joint venture agreement.
RD Corp., owned by fishing tycoon Rodrigo Rivera Sr., and P.T. Anugerah Bahari Utama (P.T Abu) formally sealed the deal late last month.
Renee Subido, RD Corp. vice president for corporate business affairs, said the joint venture for the establishment of a processing plant, shipyard, and cold storage facilities in Indonesia would initially cost US$1.8 million.
"We would shoulder 80 percent of the capital requirement and the rest by our Indonesian partner," he revealed.
Subido said construction works would begin next month and are expected to be completed before the end of the year.
Both parties expect the joint venture to serve as successful model for future fishery cooperation and development in Indonesia.
Rivera said that aside from extending capital, RD Corp. would provide marketing support, fishing fleets, and auxiliary vessels to secure the stable supply of raw materials to the cold storage and processing plant of the joint venture.
P.T Abu would work to obtain reasonable access to territorial and archipelagic exclusive economic zone fishing grounds of Indonesia for the raw aquatic supply requirements needed by the joint undertaking.
The joint venture agreement between RD Corp and P.T. Abu would be valid until June 30, 2006, and shall be deemed terminated should the parties fail to incorporate the joint venture company on such date, according to a document signed by both parties.
Abu Hartono, P.T. Abu president, signed the joint venture agreement in behalf of his company.
The Indonesian government has been dangling the joint venture scheme in a bid to fully develop its tuna fishing industry, with Philippine investors among the favored partner owing to their track record in the tuna industry.
Last week, both countries signed a memorandum of agreement on fisheries that seeks to enhance trade ties in the next five years.
Subido said RD Corp would share its advance technology in fishing and processing to the Indonesians as part of their joint venture agreement.
RD Corp is a major industry player not just in the tuna industry of the Philippines but also in the Western Pacific countries.
The firm also has a processing plant in Papua New Guinea. (RBS)
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(March 6, 2006 issue)
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