AIEC: An oasis of economic activity amid pandemic
AMID the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Damosa Land Inc.’s (DLI) agro-industrial hub Anflo Industrial Estate Corp. (AIEC) in Davao del Norte is proving to be an oasis for economic activity with the hub opening around 400 to 500 new jobs as four additional locators begin operations this month.
Local companies Southern Harvest Inc., Foam Pack, PMR Pallet Ltd. Co., and Connovate Philippines are the newest additions to AIEC’s 15 local and international locators represented by five nations: Philippines, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and the United States.
Among the previous locators in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority-approved agro-industrial estate are Packwell Inc., Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines, Phildutch Polymer Inc., Manly Plastics Inc., and Davao Zhenzhi Plastics Corp..
“Even amidst the pandemic our nation faces, AIEC continues to see a boom in construction, with most new locators on track to open their facilities by the end of the year. In fact, we have been receiving more inquiries during the ECQ period and onwards compared to the 1st quarter of 2020,” said DLI head Ricardo “Cary” Floirendo Lagdameo.
Lagdameo said despite the current situation, locators find Mindanao an attractive investment destination because of its world- class infrastructure, services, utilities, and strategic location 300 meters away from the Davao International Container Terminal (DICT), the third highest in foreign container traffic in the country.
AIEC has already closed 19 partnerships and is targeting several more. In total, this could potentially generate around 6,000 jobs and help solidify Mindanao’s status as the food basket of the Philippines. Mindanao accounts for 40 percent of the country’s food requirement and 30 percent of the food trade.
“We remain optimistic about the revival of Mindanao’s economy, and that these new locators will definitely invigorate the local economy and give hope to those greatly affected during the pandemic. The opening of four more business factories will provide a positive impact to the city and the surrounding region as this shows that there are still investments and job opportunities coming into the region,” said Lagdameo.
Just recently, Southern Harvest, one of AIEC’s new locators, opened job opportunities to over 150 workers. The goods produced here will be exported to various countries.
Meantime, the nearby DICT, which is a sister company of AIEC, is operating at full capacity, hardly showing any sign of slowing down brought by the pandemic. The 15-hectare seaport has an annual capacity of 800,000 twenty-foot container units, the standard size for containerized cargo.