President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today she wants to develop Mindanao as an agri-business center to maximize its role as the country’s food basket.

Speaking at the 13th Mindanao Business Conference at the Davao Convention and Trade Center here, the President cited the importance of developing highways of trade and cooperation across the archipelago to achieve this end.

"Because Mindanao is the food basket of the country, I would like to develop it as the agri-business center of the country," she said. "In my inauguration, I said that I want to develop two million hectares of agri-business land, and I want a lot of those two million hectares to be right here in Mindanao."

She cited the recent tie-up between Davao’s Nenita Quality Food Corp and the Pampanga meat processors as a good example of Mindanao being the food basket of the rest of the country.

Under the tie-up, Nenita would supply at least 10 tons of frozen meat cuts weekly to the Pampanga meat processors which are running out of raw materials for its processing industry.

"This will open up a new market for Mindanao’s hog raisers and will lessen Pampanga’s dependence on imported meat," the President explained. "Let me just say that as far as Nenita is concerned, we need more of these highways of trade and cooperation across the archipelago."

Developing Mindanao is part of the President’s plan of developing new centers for government, business and housing.

The Department of Agriculture she said is the center for government that she had put up in Mindanao.

"But we are developing other centers as well. Tourism in Cebu, land reform in Iloilo, transportation in Clark. And to integrate all these, I have chosen a Mindanaoan and, Davaonon to be my presidential adviser for new government centers," she said referring to former Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario.

Together with del Rosario in the Cabinet is Secretary for Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCO) Jesus Dureza who has been elevated to the rank of Cabinet member, the President said.