The Department of Agriculture said in a report yesterday it has identified an initial 272,000 hectares of arable lands for planting to palay, corn and other crops with the help of Chinese companies who are investing the capital needed to develop these areas into agribusiness hubs.

The land include 200,000 hectares for rice and corn production; 70,000 hectares for cassava and sugarcane planting; and 2,000 hectares for sweet corn.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the DA is encouraging foreign investments in agriculture because the Philippines has close to four million hectares of land that remain idle and undeveloped.

Teletech grand opening set;
expansion in Bacolod eyed

TeleTech Holdings Inc. vice president for operations and general manager Maulik Parekh yesterday said they will invite President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to grace the grand opening of their Bacolod facility early next year.

He said the grand opening ceremony is tentatively scheduled in February.

Parekh said the company is seriously considering expanding their Bacolod facility because of their initial success here. He said because there is a good flow of applicants coming in everyday, they believe they can add a few more seats and fill it with qualified people.

Merci opens Cadiz branch

Merci Bakeshop and Pasalubong Center, owned and managed by CM & Sons Inc., opened its newest branch in Cadiz City on Dec. 8, a press release from the store said.

Merci Cadiz, located in Magsaysay Street, is the store's 12th branch in Negros Occidental.

Aside from being a pasalubong center, the new branch also has a bakeshop with snack bar.

back to top