Davao de Oro (DDO), Compostela Valley’s soon-to-be official name, will strike more than just being tagged as a rich mining province. It is also seen to strengthen other sectors in the province including the agriculture industry.
DTI-Compostela Valley division chief Kim Evangelio said ComVal has been known to be one of the leading agricultural producers in the region, especially in the industry of food production (corn, palay and fruits), industrial crop production (ruber, coffee, oil, palm, cacao and babae) and aquaculture.
Evangelio added that the province has an emerging cacao industry which the local government unit allocated 1,000 hectares for cacao plantation aimed at accelerating its production.
The DTI officer, who is promoting the De Oro Business and Investment Conference (De Oro Biz Icon 2019), said that the shifting of ComVal towards DDO will have a significant economic impact for the province.
“We can ride on with the good name of the ‘Davao’ name,” Evangelio said, saying that that province will be able to attract more investors under the new name.
De Oro Biz Icon 2019 is one of the highlights of the Bulawan Festival where top business leaders, industry key players and other stakeholders converge for the annual business event. The event coincides with the official launching of the Davao De Oro name replacing Compostela Valley.
Evangelio said that De Oro Biz Icon is targeting P500 million investment leads, including new expansion projects in place for the industries of aquaculture, tourism, real estates, agriculture business, mining and others.
He said that it is a challenge for the province not only to attract new investors but keeping them.
“For the past years, ComVal has a negative image because of the rise of insurgencies in the province,” Evangelio said.
Improvements in the infrastructure and investment promotion, he said, must be prioritized.
