Finance chief tells Davao firms to seize opportunities

THE government’s ambitious infrastructure and tax reform programs will create an enabling environment for enterprises in Davao, and businessmen must take advantage of this, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said.

In a speech at the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.’s 50th anniversary celebration last week, Dominguez urged its members to show that “the entrepreneurship required to seize the business opportunities that now abound are alive and well here in Davao.”

According to him, the infrastructure investments made under “Build Build Build” will catalyze Davao’s growth potential and anticipate a long- term growth phase.

This potential “justifies the scale of the projects now in the pipeline,” he said.

These include the Davao International Airport, Davao City Coastal Road, Mindanao Logistics Infrastructure Network, and the Davao Public Transport Modernization projects, whose

the region’s economic development, the Finance chief said.

The Tagum-Davao-Digos segment of the Mindanao Railway Project—seen to ease road congestion and reduce the cost of transporting goods and people— is expected to begin construction soon, while the Davao Expressway and Asbang Small Reservoir Irrigation projects are in the preparatory phases, he added.

Davao City’s Governor Miranda 2 and Davao River bridges have been widened, and the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Investment Coordinating Committee has approved expanding the metropolis’ bypass road from two lanes to four.

The Asian Development Bankfunded Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility shall oversee the preparation of the feasibility study and detailed design on the Davao-Samal bridge.

Dominguez also emphasized the Duterte administration’s goal to create a business-friendly environment conducive to investments, citing the passage of Republic Act 11032, or the Ease

Government

Act, in May.

That law “will further reduce red tape, simplify business registration, and enable enterprises,”

Service

Delivery he said.

“Complementing this law are various e-governance initiatives that will facilitate not only business registration, but also simplify trading procedures,” he added.

According to him, the reduction of income tax rates for 99 percent of the working Filipino population under Republic Act 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act ( Train), should translate into increased demand for goods produced by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

He said the second package of the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), which aims to lower corporate income tax and rationalize incentives, will even help MSMEs.

They make up 99.6 percent of all enterprises in the country and employ 63.3 percent of the labor force, he added.