The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) bared plans on Wednesday to craft a road map to determine the essential government and private- sector interventions to spur the development of the local industry’s value chain, notably the establishment of processing plants.
PNIA President Dante R. Bravo said the road map is one of the target outcomes of the first Nickel Initiative this year, when concerned stakeholders gather to discuss how to develop the local industry.
“Let’s see if we can do it one year’s time. We hope to be able to come up with something to be able to promote the industry and help the government in shaping the right policies,” Bravo said in an interview with the media in Makati City.
“This Nickel Initiative is a start for all stakeholders to come together and to be able to discuss and convince the government that there is a need to shape-up policies to support that direction. To be able to encourage more value-added processing plants we have to shape up our policies to attract high investments,” he added.
Bravo said one of the concerns of the nickel industry to develop value-added processing in the country is the hefty investment needed to pour in, which could be slashed if the government would provide subsidies and incentives.
Bravo explained that in other countries such as China and Indonesia, their governments provide subsidies on infrastructure and power costs, as well as tax holidays.
Such incentives, if provided by the Philippine government, would encourage investors to put up processing plants locally, according to Bravo.
For example, Bravo said, it cost about $1 billion for the construction of the Taganito HPAL processing plant in Surigao del Norte. Such cost could be reduced if the government would shoulder part of the intended investment, according to Bravo.
“There is going to be a fair understanding on what is the role of the nickel industry, which we believe is a significant economic driver,” he said.
“There’s going to be appropriate policies to support the initiative that if and when we will have the value-adding processing plant, then all of these will support part,” he added.
The Nickel Initiative 2019 is slated from March 18 to 19 in Taguig City.