COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 19 December) — Business leaders in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Saturday welcomed the announcement of Chinese Consul General Li Lin “that hundreds of Chinese businessmen are eyeing the region as an investment destination.”
“This is a very welcome development,” Atty. Ronald Torres Dimacisil, president of Bangsamoro Business Chamber (BBC),” said.
At the turnover of a state-of-the-art fire truck to the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) last Wednesday, the Consul General told BARMM officials of the traders’ intention of bringing in capital to help develop the region’s economy.
With Lin were businessmen from China and Chinese traders doing business in Davao City, where the Chinese Consulate General is based.
Dimacisil said the intention of Chinese traders to include BARMM in their investment map is timely as the region is hosting the Bangsamoro Business Congress from December 17 to 19 in Cotabato City.
“We welcome new investors as long as all the existing policies and laws will be followed. We are willing to collaborate with them,” Dimacisil said.
Director General Rosslaini Alonto-Sinarimbo of BARMM’s Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism (MTIT), said the improving security situation contributed in making the Bangsamoro region as an investment destination.
“We are also working out our sisterhood agreements with Singapore and the big cities of Makati City and Davao,” she said.
She said BARMM has been implementing programs that will increase the business potentials of the region for domestic and international traders.
Dimacisil said BARMM is prioritizing “the improvement of our facilities and equipment by addressing water and electricity issues, peace and order, transportation and connectivity,” all vital in transforming the BARMM into a region on par with other administrative regions in the country in business and economic development.
He announced that Chinese smartphone maker Huawei and an automotive manufacturing company have expressed interest to invest in the Bangsamoro region.
Bai Sandra Siang-Basar, BBC secretary, said the business congress aims to develop partnership between the business sectors, business leaders and technical experts in and outside the region.
She said they are bullish that foreign investors are looking to set up businesses in the Bangsamoro region. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)