Korean Firm Investing $210 million to Develop Jatropha Business

August 22, 2007 by Ron Mahabir

A South Korean company is expected to invest about 210 million U.S. dollars in the Philippines for the development of jatropha, a source of raw material for making bio-diesel, a local daily newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The 210-million-dollar investment from Korea Technology Industry Co. Ltd. (KTI) will come in the next two years, based on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) it signed on Tuesday with PNOC- Alternative Fuels Corp., a subsidiary of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), the Philippine Star reported.

The MOU would allow the two firms to form a joint venture to undertake the jatropha development, according to the report.KTI will specifically invest 150 million U.S. dollar for 75,000 hectares of jatropha plantation within two years in the tropical Philippines. Sixty million dollars will be used for the establishment of a 300-ton capacity biorefinery by 2009, the report said.

The state-owned Philippine firm would be in charge of earmarking the land for commercial plantation and development of jatropha, it added. The PNOC-AFC is established by the Philippine government to develop biofuels and other alternative energy systems that would reduce the country’s heavy dependency on traditional oil and gas.Currently the oil from Jatropha curcas seeds is used for making bio-diesel fuel in Philippines. The country has passed a law on promotion of using bio-fuel.