DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry here is eyeing more investors to fund the infrastructure projects as a result of the public forum held here Wednesday.
In a phone interview with Davao Today, Atty. Raul V. Angeles, executive director of investments assistance center and a member of Board of Investments, said the infrastructure projects will be prioritized after many cities pushed for infrastructure development.
Aside from infrastructure projects, Angeles said that the Investment Priorities Plan 2017 will also prioritize manufacturing activities including agri-processing, agriculture, and fishery, strategic services, logistics including in Local Government Unit-Public Private Partnerships, healthcare services including drug rehabilitation centers, mass housing, innovation drivers, inclusive business models, and environment or climate change-related projects, export activities and specials laws that mandate inclusion of certain activities in the IPP.
He said the IPP is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.
The IPP’s role is to enumerate areas or sectors of the economy that believed to be the priorities of the nation for investment and development.
In drafting IPP, Angeles said that aside from DTI, they also consulted the Presidential staff, National Economic and Development Authority, and Department of Finance.
Engr. Edwin O. Banquerigo, assistant regional director of the DTI in Davao, pointed out that during the drafting of IPP, it should be factored in that the government must earn more from the income of the investments.
“We have to reduce our on-going incentives to those investors to get more money and maybe create another kind of incentive to attract other investors,” he said.
Banquerigo said the proposal has already undergone three public hearings in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao which were attended not only by private sectors but also government agencies.
During the Mindanao-wide consultation, at least 90 individuals from different sectors and agencies attended.
After the public hearing, Angeles said the BOI will receive the IPP for approval and submit it to Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, who will present it to the President.
Angeles hoped that the proposal will be signed by the President by the end of 2016.
During the 100 days of Duterte administration, BOI announced that the registered investment pledges increased by 200 percent to P51 billion in September this year. (davaotoday.com)
