Davao City has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of business establishments for the year 2016, according to investment promotions center head Lemuel Ortonio.
Speaking during a media forum at DermPath, SM Ecoland, Davao City, Ortonio said these businesses are either new or have renewed their licenses.
The DCIPC head also expressed optimism that the city could look forward to more investments in 2017, citing the number of investment inquiries that his office has received from Japan and China.
“As of the third quarter, we have 39,887 in the number of business permits and establishments,” said the DCIPC head.
Ortonio added that the number is comparatively high compared to the previous record which is 36,950 for the entire 2015.
For the capitalization, the DCIPC head said the agency has recorded a total of P232.87 billion investments in 2016, higher than last year’s figure of P217.14 billion.
Ortonio explained that with the constant development of Davao City, a number of business establishments have shown interest to invest.
This is despite the incident that challenged the disaster preparedness and resiliency of the city, noted Ortonio.
“There were no specific inquiry yet but we usually present the 10-priority investment areas of DCIP,” said Ortonio.
However, there were some Chinese and Japanese investors who have inquired on the manufacturing sector particularly on car parts.
Ortonio further explained President Duterte’s recent visit in China has influenced the investors to show interest on what Davao City has to offer.
The Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC) is the lead agency of the City Government of Davao in promoting Davao as a viable investment site through organization or participation in business missions, fairs, exhibits, conferences and fora.
It operates mainly to provide investors and the business community free professional services such as investment incentive facilitation, assistance in securing business permits and licenses, assistance in finding suitable sites, manpower and raw materials, business matching, investment counselling and data banking.
