BARMM logs ₧1.3-billion investments in 2022–BBOI
DAVAO CITY—A total of P1.3 billion in investments poured into the Bangsamoro region for the entire year, which represented only 64 percent of its target for the year as the country still reels from the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The amount was also slightly half of what it generated last year.
The Bangsamoro Board of Investments (BBOIBARMM) said the approved and registered companies that invested in the BARMM included the Pagana Kutawato Corp. with P100 million worth of investments in van-type of hotel and restaurant expansion in Cotabato City; Hanabana Construction and Equipment Corp. with P96 million of bulk water supply operation in Cotabato City;
Usman Banana Farm with P278 million investments in the former largest camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Matanog town, Maguindanao, Nama Concrete Phils. Corp. with P341 million worth of investments for a pre-mixed cement facility in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao;
The Mt. Kalatungan Agri-ventures, Inc. with P223 million investments in Cavendish banana in Amai Manabilang, Lanao del Sur; the Austrian Trade and Investments Group Inc. with P170 million investment in the production of Halal coffee products and assembly line that offers parts and components servicing and maintenance of coffee vending machines in Cotabato City, and the Kaltimex Rural Energy Corp. with P76 million worth of investments in diesel-fired off-grid power plant in Tawi-tawi.
The region also recorded a total of 1,052 employment for the year.
The BBOI-BARMM said, “Over the past years, agriculture has become the top-ranked investment opportunity in the region due to its ideal agro-climactic conditions and fertile lands available in the region.”
“However, for this year, other investment priority areas like infrastructure, manufacturing and energy are pushing through as investors see these industries as feasible in the Bangsamoro region,” it added.
BBOI-BARMM said it has exerted more effort in promoting investments by conducting BARMMWIDE Strategic Investment Priorities Plan (SIPP) consultations, “and even goes out of its way to attract investors through business coaching and investment facilitation.”
The total investments this year though, fell short of the target despite the promising early showing this year, which already logged P1.2 billion by the first six months of the year.
The Bangsamoro government website said the region was off to a good start during its first three years, the period of its transition. On the first year in 2019, it generated P4.1 billion worth of investments but dropped to P114 million in 2020 and went up again to P2.8 billion in 2021.
The first three years generated jobs for 5,704 workers.
“We should not take this plunge in investment as something negative. We should see this as a challenge. Considering the vast potentials of BARMM, the certainties and more stable peace and order situation under the leadership of Chief Minister Ahod B. Ebrahim, these investments would influence regional investors and eventually put confidence to encourage national and even global investors to come in,” BBOI-BARMM Chairman Mohamad Pasigan said.
The BARMM, meanwhile, announced it is building a modern public market worth P25 million for the upland municipality of North Upi in Maguindanao del Norte.
Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) said the project forms part of the agency’s Bangsamoro Local Economic Support Service (BLESS) Program, which aims to help local governments use their corporate power to increase and improve revenue generation.
“We invested a lot of time and resources to find the best design for the public market, one that is both functional and indicative of our architectural heritage. It’s not just an ordinary market, but a good market that can draw our locals,” he said in a news statement issued on Wednesday.
Sinarimbo,togetherwithnorthupimayorma.rona Cristina Piang-flores and other local government officials, led the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for the construction of the modern public market.
He noted that the BARMM government has allocated resources to ensure that public markets being built under the MILG are “not only functional and aesthetically pleasing but also symbolic of Bangsamoro’s architectural heritage.”