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2005 A Good Year For Philippines' Davao Region In Trade, TourismDavao Region, Dec 16, 2005 Foreign investors have been bullish in putting up businesses in the Davao and Mindanao regions this year. There has been much optimism in the trade and tourism industry given the continuous influx of new businesses and tourism projects.
Thirteen major conventions successfully concluded here, which gathered at least 20,000 delegates from all over the country and abroad. These include among others, the National Educators Congress, Philippine Convention of Medical Practitioners, Philippine Nurses Association Congress and 13th Mindanao Business Conference, which gathered foreign diplomats and trade representatives from Australia, Canada, China and the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). One of the biggest investors this year was the Japanese-owned Sumitomo Fruits Corporation (SUMIFRU), which poured in an additional P1.5 billion investments for its banana expansion program in Mindanao. SUMIFRU is now developing about 4,000 hectares of banana plantations in Davao region's agricultural districts of Calinan and Toril. Davao region's trade and tourism sectors were also boosted by BIMP countries establishing a US$5-million worth BIMP Multinational Corp. to corner the Middle East market for Halal chickens, which is estimated to be worth US$150 million a year. The year 2005 was also a good year for the economy of the region as the Philippine government and Saudi Arabia inked an agreement for stronger economic and security cooperation. Some 27 Arabian officials and trade leaders visited Davao and Mindanao in May for a venture with the local furniture and fruit industries, particularly mango and banana. At present, trade officials are working on P700 million investment pledges from various foreign and local capitalists, with the agriculture and aquamarine industries as the major beneficiaries. Potential investments to enter the region next year include a P300 million oil filter plant project; P150 million marine processing plants; P100 million Vapor Hot Treatment (VHT) plant; P100 million seaweeds expansion project, P30 million castor oil plantation development and P20-million banana chips processing plant. Three large-scale mineral resources development projects in the region are now in the pipeline, according to the Minerals and Geosciences Bureau. The projects are Diwalwal Direct State Utilization in Compostela Valley for gold and silver, Pujada Nickel project in Davao Oriental and Amacan Copper project in Compostela Valley. The projects are expected to generate over US$400-million revenues yearly and at least 10,000 jobs once in place. The investments and trade pledges came in as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) implemented over P7 billion worth of infrastructure development projects in the region. Based on DPWH-11 records, 435 road and bridges were already completed this year while some 240 infrastructure projects are up for completion. Amid all the development, employment, exports earnings and tax collection Davao region also grew, indicating an overall positive economic performance during the year. (PNA)
Top of News: Good Year for Davao Region
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