On May 22, provincial leaders met with representatives from a company from the Republic of Korea who is contemplating investing in a 50-hectare pilot banana and pineapple plantation.

This is just the latest in a string of meetings with potential investors that has failed to pan out as the province is finding out that investment in hi-tech agriculture is a hard sell to foreigners who prefer to plough their dollars into manufacturing.

The Province is attempting to transition away from rice cultivation to other agriculture goods and has been trying to attract foreign investment in hi-tech agriculture to this end, said one official.

The province boasts over 130,000ha of arable hectarage but has been hit hard by saline intrusion, which has destroyed the rice farming industry, and is seeking alternative crops and investment to replace rice as the main crop.