THE Board of Investments (BoI) said it is hoping to persuade investors to locate their operations in South-Central Mindanao and the Western Visayas.
In a statement Monday, the BoI said that it recently conducted Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) roadshows in Iloilo City and General Santos City last month.
Rachel B. Echague, BoI director for resource-based industries, said Republic Act No. 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act details the incentives investors are eligible for regardless of which investment promotion agencies (IPA) a business registers with.
“No matter which IPA you register your project with, you will still be given or granted the same package of incentives and they only differ in terms of industry tier classification, location, and whether you are export-oriented or geared towards the domestic market,” Ms. Echague said.
According to the BoI, General Santos City is home to six of the seven major tuna companies, with the industry’s overall workforce estimated at 120,000 and exports at $58 million.
“The CREATE Law positions our region to be a (potential) metropolitan development… We are confident that the SIPP will maximize business opportunities and investors will consider our region as their destination,” General Santos City Economic Development Office Head Leonard V. Flores said.
Teresa Socorro C. Ramos, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional director for Soccsksargen, said that the region’s economy posted 5.2% growth to P472.5 billion in 2021.
“Soccsksargen is among four regions… whose output returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2021, the region was the country’s largest coffee producer at 21,588 metric tons (MT) and Mindanao’s top rice producer with 1.265 million MT,” she said.
Department of Trade and Industry Western Visayas (Region VI) Regional Director Rebecca M. Rascon said she hopes the region will attract “construction, Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM), tourism (and) manufacturing projects to generate employment.”
Arecio A. Casing, Jr., NEDA Region VI OIC-regional director, said the region offers investors ample agricultural land, a favorable energy mix, and promising locations.
He added that some of the ongoing infrastructure projects in the region include the proposed Iloilo-Capiz-Aklan Expressway, the proposed Panay Guimaras-Negros Island Bridge, and the Panay River Basin Integrated Development Project.
The SIPP, which took effect on June 11, is the list of priority industries the government wishes to develop by offering preferential incentives to the private sector. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
