A Chinese company is eyeing the importation of Davao’s durian to the People’s Republic of China with an investment of up to USD1 billion.
April Marie Dayap, the head of the Davao City Investment and Promotion Center (DCIPC), bared that Honju Fruits, a Chongqing-based company took interest in importing durian because it has a huge market in China. Davao City and the municipality of Chongqing recently agreed to sign a sisterhood pact.
Honju Fruits, Dayap said, targets the importation of the Montong durian variety.
“For now, Honju imports durian from Thailand. Thailand cannot supply the demand of Montong variety. They want to import from us from September to March as these months are the low season of durian in Thailand,” Dayap said.
She said that officials of Honju Fruits will visit the city soon to personally discuss importation possibilities and to find out if the city can supply the demand.
“This will be a big opportunity for our businessmen in the city to expand their business and explore exporting their produce to China. We also encourage them to plant more durian,” she said.
The USD1 billion investment will also cover assistance to durian farmers to maintain the sustainability of the supply of the Montong variety.
Earlier, Candelario Miculob, the president of the Davao Durian Industry Development Council (DDIDC), said there is a growing demand in the export market to China.
Miculob said that Davao City has high durian production. The city shares half of the 40 tons of the total durian production in Davao region.
Recently, the City Agriculturist Office and the Department of Agriculture (DA)-11 launched the Durian 500 Program to help farmers plant more durian seedlings.
Under the program, Miculob said the CAO and DA-11 not only provided seedlings but also conducted training and marketing assistance to the local farmers. CIO
