FRUIT GROWERS IN S MINDANAO EYE FOREIGN MARKETS Asia Pulse November 15, 2004 Monday Fruit exporters in southern Mindanao, with encouragment from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), expressed near unanimity in their wish to acquire a hi-tech irradiation machine in order to increase their chances in penetrating more foreign markets -- especially the United States -- but are being stymied by the high acqusition cost of even the cheapest Canadian-made device. During a product presentation conducted today by the Hongkong-based MDS Nordion, accompanied here by its Manila associates, Mr. Hung Wai-Ming, area sales manager (Asia-Pacific), it was learned that all other Asian exporting countries have already acquired modern irradiation facilities which make them highly competitive in the global market. The Philippines has only one and already obsolete irradiation facility, now more than two decades old, is owned by the government and operated by the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) located somewhere in Quezon City. One of the strong supporters of the move to acquire a modern irradiation machine for the use of Davao's expanding fruit export industry is Mr. Sofronio B. Jucutan, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCCI). During the lengthy inter-action Friday at the Apo View hotel between the fruit exporters and the Hongkong and Manila executives, Jucutan agreed on the urgent need to acquire the radiation machine, however he suggested that the group and the manufacturer jointly study ways and means on how to reduce the acquisition cost which would amount to more than P300-million. One possible avenue would be to form a consortium among the potential users of the irradiation machine-including major fruit producers and exporters in this region-to which Mr. Hung Wai-ming of MDS Nordion responded by saying that "we are willing to sit down and talk." DTI Regional Director Engr. Merly Cruz likewise supported the move to acquire the modern irradition facility whose emission of gamma rays would render fruit pests harmless and the fruits acceptable to western importing countries, but also blinked at the high acquisition price. It was further suggested that the government's financial institutions assist by extending "soft loans" to the fruit industry here, but most dialogue participants expressed pessimism about its possibility considering the present "fiscal crisis" nagging the country's frail economy.