Davao City is fielding a 15-man delegation to Japan this October to drumbeat this city’s investment and tourism opportunities in a bid to attract more Japanese investors.
The road show, according to Lemuel Ortonio who heads the Davao City Investment and Promotions Center, will take the Davao delegation into a five-day working tour of the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Yokohama.
Ortonio told the Habi at Kape press conference on Wednesday that the delegation will focus on Davao’s agriculture, manufacturing and tourism opportunities as “strong selling points” in Japan’s largest cities.
He said these fields of investments are apt to fit likely into the interests of probable Japanese investors.
“We are also looking at the Philippine embassy to help out in meeting local officials of these cities as well as business groups,” he said.
The first time Davao City sent a delegation to a foreign country for a similar mission was in 2012 when it fielded a 40-man team to Singapore.
“In Japan, we are hoping to re-connect with Japanese businessmen who had been to Davao City,” he said. “Hopefully, they will help in promoting our city to other Japanese business groups.”
Ortonio said Davao City’s economic dynamism has been validated by the number of big investments that increased by 6.0% percent between the 2015-2016 period.
He said investments for the first half of 2017 reached P247Billion compared to P230Billion for the whole of 2016.
He said the city continues to provide fiscal incentives to investors, including tax exemption for the first three years of operation.
He did not provide figures but asserted that the cost of doing business in Davao City is also much better compared to other cities in Mindanao.
The Davao City delegation is comprised of local officials, business persons, representatives of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and the City Information Office.
