PCCI welcomes UK firms in agri, power, BPOs

DAVAO CITY — Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President George T. Barcelon urged British participants at the Mindanao Trade and Investment Forum to invest in Mindanao’s agriculture, energy and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries.

“We hope that you will be able to network (to find) various opportunities in agriculture, energy, and the ICT-BPO services. Our chambers are ready to help you and find potential business relationships,” Mr. Barcelon said in his speech.

Mr. Barcelon said Mindanao’s time in the spotlight has been a long time coming and things are moving fast during the term of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

“The second-largest island in the country Mindanao is often thought of as a land of promise and opportunity. It has immense resources yet in the past it has grappled with lawlessness, drug issues and poverty. Despite such occurrences that were confined to a few areas, the negative impression and stigma caused investors to shy away,” he said.

However, in recent years Mindanao has taken in increased investment in agriculture, manufacturing, information technology services, and tourism according to Mr. Barcelon.

In 2015 Mindanao contributed 14.4% of the country’s gross domestic product with three of the six regions posting rapid expansion particularly the Davao provinces of Region XI.

Mr. Barcelon said, although, it took time for Mindanao to shake off its old reputation, it is now starting to realize its potential. He said agricultural production has been robust, particularly for banana, pineapple, tuna, cacao and natural rubber.

He said tourism also continues to grow with arrivals almost doubling their 2014 levels.

“The Department of Tourism (DoT) is hoping to create eco-tourism and agri-tourism as supplementary products of Mindanao tourism specifically in Bukidnon. The DoT is looking for more flights of neighboring countries like Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia to make Davao more accessible,” he said.

Mr. Barcelon added that the roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) mode of sea transport that will initially link Davao- General Santos-Bitung, Indonesia is expected to further (develop) opportunities… that will pave the way for the country’s transformation from a low middle income country in the foreseeable future.

“We are optimistic that this will be realized sooner than most of us have expected,” he said.

Mr. Barcelon also said aside from the Ro-Ro route, which PCCI and the Davao and General Santos chambers aggressively advocate, the national government and the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) have begun to undertake infrastructure projects such as railways and roads to improve connectivity and lower logistics costs.

Yet, he said even before these projects were auctioned there has been an uptick in business delegations from China, Japan, Europe, and the Middle East looking for potential projects in Mindanao.