The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper
Foreign investors eyeing Davao City
DAVAO CITY - The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc (DCCCII) said it is expecting an influx of more foreign investors here who regard Davao as the new location of their businesses.
Arturo Milan, DCCCII president, said some investors, among them Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Hawaiians, are expected to arrive Davao in March to explore business and trade opportunities here. “There must be interesting reasons in March probably because it is Araw ng Davao as they also wanted to see what is in here," he said.
He said there are also several groups who want to come and also look at business opportunities here, adding, some are from China who attended the Davao Investment Conference and Malaysians who are slated to meet with DCCCII officials and Mayor Sara Duterte-carpio.
Milan said: “We need to do a lot and whether we like it or not security is still an issue. We should not get tired of talking about security to allay the fears of investors in coming to Mindanao and Davao.”
He noted that Davao is competing with neighboring regions, thus there is a need to work on best offers and packages. “What we can do is to team up with our foreign chambers counterpart so they will bring them (investors) here,” he said.
Milan said businessmen can bring in investors through the holding of investment conferences. “We have a lot to offer and we need to aggressively promote them,” he said.
Milan, however, underscored the need to expand the Davao International Airport to other foreign destinations to attract investors to the city. He said the business sector will strengthen training and development especially for Micro Small and Medium Entrepreneurs to guide them in making their businesses grow.
DCCCII is also pushing for the creation of economic zones in the area and expansion of sisterhood agreements, more air linkages to encourage foreign chambers to come here and look at opportunities.