BOI seeks investments for cold chain sector

• The Board of Investments is conducting roadshows to drum up investments for the cold chain industry

• The Supra-Regional Cold Chain Industry Roadshows will be rolled out initially in three major regions: Cebu, Davao and Pampanga

The Board of Investments (BOI) is seeking to beef up investments in the cold chain sector via the conduct of roadshows.

BOI’s Supra-Regional Cold Chain Industry Roadshows, initially in three major regions, aims to increase cold chain warehousing capacity nationwide, the agency said in a statement.

Under the Philippine Cold Chain Industry Roadmap, the local cold chain warehousing capacity is expected to increase by 50,000 pallet positions each year in the short term through investments. The roadmap also seeks to address greater demand, particularly in the agribusiness sector.

The development of the country’s cold chain industry will lead to reduced post-harvest losses, longer shelf life of food, a deeper linkage of the production and manufacturing sectors, and deeper integration with the domestic and global value chains, BOI said.

The first leg of the BOI roadshow was in Mandaue City, Cebu on October 12 while the second is in Davao City on October 25. The last stop is in Clark, Pampanga on November 9.

The Cebu roadshow covered those coming from Regions 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas), and 8 (Eastern Visayas).

The Davao leg will include Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11 (Davao Region), and 12 or South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos City (SOCCSKSARGEN region).

The Pampanga round will cover participating firms from Regions 1 (Ilocos Region), 2 (Cagayan Valley Region), 3 (Central Luzon Region), and Cordillera Administrative Region.

The roadshows feature presentations on the regional economic situation by the National Economic Development Authority; Agriculture and Fisheries Performance and Cold Chain services needs by the Department of Agriculture; and financing opportunities by the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines. Initiatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization through its Food Cold Chain Project specifically the Cold Chain Innovation Hub are also for discussion.

A key part of each roadshow is the one-on-one consultation between the prospective investors and the BOI, DA, UNIDO, LBP, and DBP.

The roadshows are BOI’s platform to inform prospective investors on recent legislative/policy developments such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and the Strategic Investment Priority Plan and amendment of the Public Service Act that liberalized foreign equity participation in cold storage warehousing activities.

Last February, the BOI, the Environmental Management Bureau, and Insight SCS Corp. signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a cold chain integrated supply chain solution in the Philippines – the “Development of a Cold Chain Integrated Supply Chain Solution for Evidence-based Policy Making and Investment Programming.” The partnership aims to utilize data analytics to identify best locations for prospective cold chain projects and digitally onboard cold chain operators through the DELIVER-E 2.0 platform.