Cotabato City clinches first major investment since joining BARMM

DAVAO CITY—THE city of Cotabato, the current seat of the autonomous regional government for Filipino Muslims, got its biggest break in multimillion investments since joining the autonomous region last year.

The regional Bangsamoro Board of Investments, or RBOI, approved for registration in its board meeting Thursday the P398 million worth of tourism-related investment project of Eight Z’S Properties Building Rental located in Cotabato City.

The investing firm said it intended to revive the Old Barter Tourism Center in Cotabato City which used to be the favorite shopping area for traditional and cultural goods and ethnic merchandise and souvenirs from the different Moro and indigenous tribes from across east Asia, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia.

Upon its completion the project will give tourists and visitors easy access to these items in Cotabato City, which is the provisional capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“This is a significant investment for us because this is the first investment registered with RBOI-BARMM for Cotabato City since it joined the BARMM after the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite in 2019 signaling to the business sector and investors that Cotabato City as the provisional capital of BARMM continues to be a vibrant and strategic gateway destination for investments in the region,” said lawyer Ishak Mastura, chairman of the RBOI-BARMM. Cotabato City was officially entered into the autonomous region the following year.

The type of business is for stall rentals and tourism promotions showcasing handicrafts, souvenirs, brassware, traditional Moro crafts like Inaul (i.e., hand weaved Malongs, a type of tubular garment found throughout Southeast Asia), and Muslim native food delicacies (i.e., kumukunsi, titadtag, dudul, panialam, bulwa, tipas), RBOI-BARMM said.

Barter trade centers are so popular to tourists and visitors who come to Mindanao, particularly in the barmm, because of the distinctiveness of the merchandise that are being sold. The goods and souvenir items are not bartered goods anymore but the word barter remained in use owing to the traditional exchange of goods among traders in east Asia centuries ago. These items are popular for their native and Islamic motifs and designs such as Arabic calligraphy, batik and baju kurong and Hijab fashion ware including halal products coming from the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines-east Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).