CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – With the billions worth of investments now pouring in into the economic zone of Misamis Oriental, various sectors particularly the business now express optimism that Northern Mindanao is destined to be one of the prime investment hubs in Mindanao.
In an interview, Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) administrator Franklin Quijano is confident Misamis Oriental will further boost its bid to be one of the best business centers in the area as several companies have either started construction or are on the process of finalizing their accreditation with the PIA management as locators.
He placed the estimate of new investments that came in at PHP4 billion and occupying several hectares of land inside the eco-zone.
Quijano said that PIA manages the 3,000-hectare Phividec Industrial Estate in the province, covering 13 barangays located in the towns of Tagoloan and Villanueva. So far, dozens of locators have established their businesses inside this economic zone.
In fact, one company, Gardenia Bakeries Philippines Inc., has already started its operation within the PIA complex in Barangay Santa Cruz, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, early this month.
The Gardenia plant in Tagoloan is the firm’s first facility in Mindanao. Using advanced, fully-automated technology, the bakery can produce up to 130,000 loaves and buns per day for distribution throughout Mindanao.
Gardenia Bakeries president Simplecio Umali also told reporters that the decision to put up the facility at Phividec was a strategic move as it can act as a supply depot capable of distributing products in case of disasters in some parts of the country.
“In case there’s a calamity, a major earthquake, we can still continue to supply food to other areas. We can immediately ship our goods from Tagoloan to the Visayas, even to Luzon,” he said.
Umali said they have tried this approach of bringing in their products to high-risk zones when they gave out loaves of bread for free to the displaced residents of Marawi City at the height of the siege in 2017, as part of their corporate social responsibility.
With the bread producer already in operation, Quijano said other companies will soon follow suit once the construction of their facilities will be completed.
San Miguel Corp., for instance, is setting up five businesses at Phividec, producing beer, food, feeds, packing products, and grains.
Other companies that are interested to put up shop at the economic zone in the near future include a tennis ball maker, a steel manufacturing, and a liquid natural gas.
Quijano said investors with diverse businesses pay his office a visit every week, indicating that more locators are interested in branching out to Misamis Oriental. (davaotoday.com)
