German Company Sees SLSU as Potential Partner in Public-Private Partnership
“Universities today also need to finance themselves, and this is a good opportunity,” said Harald Fuechsel, Education and Technology Senior Expert of SES Germany, a German foundation for international cooperation, and General Manager of German company HMP Consulting.
Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) key officials, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bontoc Credit Cooperative Inc. (BCCI), a private sector representative and representative from the Bontoc local government unit gathered at the SLSU conference room on Feb. 3, 2015 to hear Fuechsel on the possibility of forging a partnership which is largely seen as a big break for SLSU and the province of Southern Leyte.
Fuechsel was tapped in 2012 by the DTI – Maasin through a request to SES Germany for an expert to help out with solutions in exploiting the province’s resources. After discovering the poor utilization of the province’s main commodity – coconut, he came up with the idea of a public-private partnership (PPP) to jump-start the utilization of coconut products.
The public-private partnership will bring together a German company and Philippine partners in the production of coconut-based products destined for sale in Germany and Europe. The parties involved in the partnership are the social enterprise HMP Consulting in partnership with another company Proflora from the German side, and from the Philippine side, HMP Philippines which is considering SLSU, the DTI and the BCCIto be part of the partnership.
The intended products will be garden pots from coco coir, fertilizer from coco peat, coco water and coco sauce, HMP Philippines General Manager Jenny May Cinco said. “There is a demand for these products,” Fuechsel said “but Germany will set the standards.”
Before becoming an expert for the SES Germany foundation, Fuechsel was a founder of the Lufapak Company which caters to logistics and packaging. His current company HMP Consulting, has branches here in the Philippines, in Indonesia, Timor Leste and soon in Vietnam.
“There’s a German company that’s interested,” explains DTI – Maasin Director Michael Nuñez in the meeting on Feb. 3. “They are looking for partners from the Philippines. Nobody supplies them. They are saying ‘We are looking for partners.’ That is why we have the PPP in order to have support for the product because marketing the product and developing the skills needed to produce it is costly.”
Selling the pots in Europe will be the task of the German partners, said Fuechsel. “The German government is contributing 200,000 euros to cover everything. This will not be paid back. But each partner has to contribute.”
The partners’ contribution will come in the form of supply of raw material, man power, venue for training and accommodation for technical experts the German government may send. Monetary contribution is also welcome.
SOIL CONDITIONER. Garden soil will be marketed in the form of pellets. Crushed coconut compressed to form ‘pellets’ (upper left in pot) expand when watered (middle plate) then disintegrate to become garden soil fertilizer (right plate).
Garden pots made from coco coir. Courtesy of HMP Consulting.
The German government through SES Germany will channel its aid to the partnership through HMP Consulting and then to HMP Consulting Philippines.
The money will not be given directly to the partners but to HMP Consulting Philippines, said Mr. Fuechsel. “HMP Philippines will coordinate, lead and evaluate all the activities that the partners are doing.”
HMP had held meetings since 2014 with SLSU-Bontoc. The company counts the facilitation of the SLSU-Bontoc campus administrator Mabel Calva as invaluable. “Without her, SLSU would not probably be a part of this partnership because we had VSU [Visayas State University]. But now it’s changed to SLSU. Engr. Arthur Marte of the Provincial Engineer’s office had also been a lot of help to us,” said Ms. Cinco.
MEETING OF MINDS. SES education and technology expert Harald Feuchsel and SLSU-Bontoc campus administrator Dr. Dewoowoogen Baclayon exchange ideas on coir properties and potential alternative minor components to coco coir pots.
“We have the power to do this in a time frame of two years,” Fuechsel said. “The knowledge may come from Germany but the work has to be done together with the partners here. This can be started in June and July this year if you are serious with the partnership.”
SLSU officials would like to have a MOA first before sealing the deal. “After the translation of the MOA (from German to English), we will present it to our people in the university in the council meeting on February,” said SLSU President Dr. Prose Ivy Yepes. “We need to know what the MOA specifies as the responsibilities of the partners.”
When SLSU confirms its partnership, SLSU’s contribution will be in the provision of a training venue for students and community people, accommodation and food for foreign trainers, skilled faculty members to assist in the training, and students and young people who will compose much of the production labor. This will very likely be held in SLSU-Bontoc and SLSU-Hinunangan, being SLSU’s agricultural campuses, said President Yepes.
Fuechsel said that a major motivation he had for tapping universities was to see ‘every student becoming an entrepreneur.’ One of Fuechselpartner’s in Indonesia is a university in which a German technology – heavy water purification equipment is manufactured by the university’s students.
“You have a big resource, but only about 10% of it is utilized,” said Fuechsel, referring to coconut.
“I see a lot of opportunity in this project,” said Vice President for Research, Development and Extension (RDE) Dr. Francis Ann Sy, after a second meeting with the SES expert on Feb. 9.
“The training that will be provided through this project will be different from other trainings,” said new RDE Director Veronica Reoma. “Because at the end of the training, there is a demand for the product.”
Much still remains to be clarified on the exact role of several parties – SLSU, the DTI, BCCI – that are considered for the partnership.
“We will meet together with the other local partners and draft the MOA that would stipulate the role of each partner,” said Jenny May Cinco in a meeting with Vice President Ann Sy and RDE Director Veronica Reoma on Feb. 9.
CALCULATED IN DAYS. The German side is ready. Fuechsel presents a detailed training timetable to SLSU Vice President for RDE Francis Ann Sy. (L-R:) Harald Fuechsel, Vice President Francis Ann Sy and Jenny May Cinco.