News & Update

Chodai have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Kiso-Jiban Consultants Co., Ltd., Equi-Parco Construction Company, Twinpeak Hydro Resources Corporation and Green Asia Engineering Corporation to further strengthen cooperation in economic development of the Caraga region in Mindanao, the Philippines. 

The details of the agreement are; 1) Based on the "MOU regarding comprehensive partnership for regional development of Mindanao through private initiative" that was signed on May 1st of last year, we will invest up to 5% in each of the two special purpose companies (SPCs) which are engaged in agriculture and aquaculture business. These SPCs will be mainly operated by Equi-Parco and Twinpeak. 2) The Parties agreed to expand the development in the region through cooperation and collaboration between the signatory parties even after  Mr. Ronnie Lagnada, former COO of Equi-Parco, assumed the Mayor of Butuan City. Kiso-Jiban Consultants Co., Ltd. is the company affiliated to Chodai, Equi-Parco and Twinpeak are both based in Mindanao, the Philippines, and Green Asia Engineering is a Japanese company that also works with Equi-Parco and Twinpeak.

The MOU signing ceremony was held on 29th June in Butuan City, Mindanao Island in presence of Mr. Ronnie Lagnada as a witness. The MOU was signed by Mr. Akinori Ido, Managing Director of the Business Promotion Group at Chodai Co., Ltd., Mr. Ruben Javier, CEO of Equi-Parco Construction Company, Mr. Motohide Takano, President of Twinpeak Hydro Resources Corporation and Mr. Hikonari Maeda, President of Green Asia Engineering Co., Ltd.

On the 30th of June, Mr. Ronnie Lagnada was inaugurated as the new mayor of Butuan City, commencement of his initiative for introduction of new administration in the city government of Butuan. More than 1,000 people attended the inauguration ceremony which was held in a hotel in Butuan City from 11:00 am in the morning. Newly elected Mayor Ronnie Lagnada, Congressman Lawrence Fortun, Vice Mayor Jose Aquino II and ten other city councilors made their inauguration during the ceremony. 

Thereafter, the Mayor Lagnada delivered his policy speech in which he announced a set of ten policy objectives. In his speech, he expressed his motivation to create a master plan for environment-friendly development in the region. In addition, he also mentioned our activities to date for the regional development in Caraga and the support of the Japanese government agencies such as JICA, JBIC and METI. Furthermore, Mayor Lagnada expressed his gratitude to Mr. Ido, Mr. Yuji Munehiro, General Manager of Business Planning Division, and Mr. Satoshi Kato, General Manager of Risk Management Division who were attended the ceremony from Chodai.

Moving forward, in accordance with this MOU, we will build stronger partnerships with Ruben Javier, CEO of Equi-Parco Construction Company and also with Twinpeak Hydro Resources Corp. with whom we will share the overall business. The stronger partnership between the Parties of this MOU will continue to contribute for the economic development in Caraga region. Specifically, we have drawn up a master plan for the economic development of Caraga region focusing on the following two points, 1) economic development based on renewable energy development utilizing the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) subsidy program, and local production and consumption of energy through development of low-carbon industrial park, 2) cooperation to strengthen the logistic infrastructures such as industrial road, ports and other infrastructures necessary to create a value chain for primary products produced in the region. Through the activities above, we would like to contribute for the promotion of regional development through full-scale PPP, incorporating the involvement of both Japanese and Philippines governments.