MANILA, Philippines - State-run Land Bank of the Philippines has started the implementation of a $40-million project, which aims to jumpstart agribusiness investments in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

In a statement, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the loan agreement for the Japan-funded Harnessing Agribusiness Through Robust and Vibrant Entrepreneurship Support of Peaceful Transformation (HARVEST) program started on June 9.

“The HARVEST program which we signed with JICA a few months ago is now ongoing. The terms (of the loan agreement) are very, very liberal. The interest rates are extremely low so you can almost say they are ‘semi-grants,” Dominguez said.

The loan deal for the HARVEST program was signed by the Landbank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s two-day visit to the Philippines last January.

According to the Department of Finance, the loan acquired by the government from JICA offers a low interest rate of 1.4 percent per annum, with a repayment period of 18 years and a seven-year grace period, for a total maturity of 25 years.

HARVEST, which will be implemented by the Landbank from this year to 2022, aims to open a lending window for agribusiness ventures and other related investments in ARMM and other conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.

Loans funded under the HARVEST project will be made available to large agribusiness enterprises, farmers’ organizations or cooperatives, micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as “corporatives” or corporation-managed farms supported by the Landbank.