MANILA, 10 August 2005 — Overseas Filipinos who are looking for investment opportunities in the Philippines may want to try the cut flower business in Mindanao, the Department of Agriculture has said.
Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban told Arab News in a recent interview that the cut flower business is expected to bloom in the southern Philippines following Japan’s donation of $1.2 million for emergency rehabilitation of agriculture-based livelihood for disadvantaged farmers and returning refugees in the region.
Contributing nearly 40 percent of the national gross domestic product coming mainly from agricultural production, Mindanao farmers and returnees from conflict-ridden areas who live below the poverty line are the beneficiaries of this government program.
Asked about where OFWs can invest their money, Panganiban told Arab News that the production of foods such as rice, fruits, vegetables and livestock is still the most feasible.
Mindanao has to produce its own food and at the same time bring this out to nearby areas and ultimately export if there is surplus, he explained.
While flowers may not be eaten, the cut flower business is one of the country’s “sunrise” industries, he said.
Domestic supply of cut flower is still insufficient to satisfy the demand of local market, which results in large importation of cut flower during the peak season.
Cut flower refers to blooms that are cut from their stems and used as corsages, wreaths and special flower arrangements for different occasions such as weddings, birthdays and other festivities.
It is described as “fresh flowers” which can also be used as additives in perfume processing and other health and beauty products.
Some of the cut flowers commonly grown in the Philippines are anthurium, aster, chrysanthemum, orchids, rose, gladiola and baby’s breath.
Panganiban pointed out that aside from high demand for local cut flower production, global demand for cut flowers has also been increasing.
Japan is the biggest market for the country’s exports of cut flowers and flower buds. Korea, on the other hand, is the biggest buyer of live plants and cuttings.
The major buyer of dried cut flowers is the Netherlands.
The United States is the biggest buyer of fresh foliage, importing 69 percent of the total Philippine exports of cut flowers.
“It is the best area to invest money so far,” Panganiban said.
The joint agriculture-based project of the Philippine government and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) target the areas of Central, Southern, Northern and Western Mindanao where there are significant incidents of conflict and poverty.
