Florida-based firm Rizome Philippines has committed to invest up to $100 million, or P5.5 billion, for an engineered bamboo plant in Cagayan de Oro.
Former Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr., an investor at Rizome Philippines via subsidiary Bamboo Ecologic Export Corp., also vowed to bring proprietary technology in bamboo wood manufacturing for the commitment.
Rizome Philippines also said its international parent will finance the local investment through loans, offset credits for capital equipment startup and operational expenses.
“I became a global investor cause I want to bring the best technology here. I don’t want the Philippines to be second class. The investment is big but (even now) our business is already a billion peso industry and it employs thousands,” said Lorenzo in a statement.
Lorenzo said he also met with Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council vice chairman Deogracias Victor Savellano who is seeking legislative support in institutionalizing Executive Order 879 issued in 2010 aimed at carving a piece of the $8 billion bamboo market dominated by China.
Savellano has reported the Lower House recently approved on second reading House Bill 7941 that promotes the development of the local bamboo sector.
According to Lorenzo, the Philippines can compete with any country in the world in bamboo wood quality, particularly on Giant Aster species that grow abundantly all over Mindanao, despite China’s dominance in the market.
“I came across a group of Americans who for 13 years were producing from Vietnam high-end, prefabricated homes made of bamboo. The same group studied ways by which bamboo can be re-engineered using technology. After 13 years, they finally decided after visiting Brazil, Indonesia, China, India that the Philippines has the best bamboo.”
Former Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr., an investor at Rizome Philippines
According to him, it is crucial to make bamboo a recognized construction material in the Building Code of the Philippines as the material is a proven technology with such attributes as strong as steel, tough as concrete, fire and water resistant and pest free, among others.
To encourage investments in bamboo plantations and their manufacture, the government should quickly process 25- to 50-year forest management contract applications.
Rizome buys bamboo slats from agrarian reform beneficiaries who plant bamboo in Bukidnon, North Cotabato, the Agusan provinces and Surigao and ship them in container loads to original equipment manufacturers in America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
The company said local policies supporting the sector are needed for the industry to truly flourish.
