MANILA, 13 December 2007 — Spanish businessmen are committed to investment a total of $450 million in the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture has said.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the Basque regional government of Spain has agreed to invest in biofuels production, sustainable fisheries development, aquaculture biotechnology in the provinces of Palawan, Quezon, Bicol and Leyte.

Palawan is expected to get a big portion of the planned investments with a $200-million project of Bionor Transformacion, a Bilbao-based biofuels giant.

Bionor Transformacion pledged to invest in the Philippine’s development of jatropha plantations for biofuel feedstock in Palawan that is expected to boost farm incomes and generate more jobs.

Yap said the department has drum-beaten the potentials of the biofuels sector in the Philippines before the global community has yielded multimillion-dollar investments to benefit tens of thousands of rural families. Calling it an “agro-industrial revolution” in the countryside, Yap said he is also talking with officials of several Spanish corporations to invest in potential renewable energy projects such as wind and solar power in the country, considering that Spain is the second largest European nation in that field.

The agriculture department forged separate agreements with two global biofuel companies aiming to develop a total of 150,000 hectares of land into jatropha and cassava plantations for ethanol production.

These accords were forged with Bionor, a well-established global multi-feedstock biodiesel leader company in Europe, and Abengoa Bioenergy, which operates bioethanol facilities not only Europe but also in Brazil and the United States.

Bionor and AME Bioenergy signed Memorandum of Agreements with the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation as the DA’s implementing agency, committing the Spanish firm to invest at least $200 million to develop 100,000 hectares of land for jatropha plantations and related activities.

On the other hand, Abengoa Bioenergy signified its intent to invest up to $250 million in the Philippines to develop at least 50,000 hectares of land for cassava production.

It will also provide the design engineering and supply the machinery required for the development of cassava plantations and study the possibility of establishing bioethanol production plants in the Philippines.