DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 Feb) – There are 15 companies who have so far expressed their intention to invest in the Davao Region and SOCCSKSARGEN areas this year, an official of the Board of Investments (BOI) in Southern Mindanao said.
During the “Wednesdays at Habi at Kape” forum in Abreeza of the Ayala Mall, BOI-Southern Mindanao chief Engr. Gil Dureza said most of these local and foreign companies are into manufacturing, real estate, and agriculture and are looking for areas to expand their operations in the country.
Of the 15 companies, 12 inquiries were made in the Davao Region, he said.
One of these firms is a large company based in China which will soon operate in Calinan area its box plant “as a warmup project” this year.
“Their box plant will support the export industry we have here,” Dureza said. The company is in the process of securing registrations from the local government, he added.
Aside from the box plant, Dureza said there are also three companies in the coconut industry that will be operating soon in the region.
“We have a few coconut processing players for export, property development and agricultural development for export,” he said. The biggest investments, Dureza added, will be coming from the companies exporting coconut products.
He said he also sees opportunities for expansion for most of the agricultural companies in the Davao Region when the El Niño, which has already affected several crops, ends expectedly by June when “most of the farmers can resume planting,” although there are companies expanding even during dry spell.
“The companies are waiting for El Niño to end. By then, pineapple, banana, and oil palm companies will expand,” Dureza said.
The BOI registered 358 projects approved worth P366.742 billion in investments, or an increase by 3.38 percent as compared to 2014’s P354.557 billion for 295 projects last year in the Philippines. Of the approved 2015 investments, 83.8 percent were projects registered by local companies with P307.235 billion while foreign companies with P59.507 billion.
Dureza added that the BOI-Southern Mindanao, covering Davao Region (Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao del Norte, and Compostela Valley) and SOCCSKSARGEN (Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and cities Cotabato and General Santos), contributed a total of P13 billion.
Most of the projects were business process outsourcing (BPO), agricultural, power and real estate.
“There was an increase of 61 percent of foreign investors because of the attractiveness as investment destination,” Dureza said.
“Philippines is one of the proposed destination this year and onwards for the Japanese,” he said.
“In the past, we have generated big projects in power. For the period 2014 to 2015, the investments simmered because there are existing projects,” he said.
