Thursday, January 15, 2009 Davao has highest number of registered firms in RP By Joy Romares-Sevilla
DAVAO City accounts for 68 percent of the total number of corporations newly registered with the agency nationwide last year, an official of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.
Speaking at Wednesday's edition of the Club 888 press forum at Marco Polo Davao, lawyer Javey Paul Francisco, SEC Davao director, said the agency has recorded a total of 464 newly registered corporations, 314 of which was registered in the city.
"We cannot determine how much the investment value of these corporations is because these corporations may be operating somewhere else although their primary office is in Davao," Francisco told reporters.
In a copy of a list of cities and provinces that registered new corporations with the SEC, General Santos City listed 36 new corporations as of 2008, followed by Tagum City with 18; South Cotabato City and Koronadal with both nine; Cotabato City with eight; Davao del Norte and Sultan Kudarat with seven; Panabo City and Digos City with six; Davao del Sur with five; Davao Oriental, Surigao del Sur, and Mati City with four; Cebu City and Agusan del Sur with three; Makati City, Butuan, Sarangani Province, Malaybalay, Bislig City, and Compostela Valley Province with two; and Bohol, Parañaque, Pasig, Cagayan de Oro, Midsayap, Surigao Ciyt, Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato, and the Island Garden City of Samal with one newly registered corporation.
Francisco said the value of newly registered partnerships and corporations with SEC, in terms of paid-up capital, declined by 35 percent in 2008 as compared to 2007.
He said the value was placed at P215.4 million in 2008 and P350 million in 2007. Likewise, the value of foreign direct investments registered with SEC in 2008 also went down.
"The value of foreign direct investments went down by 66 percent. From P45.7 million in 2007, only P14.1 million was recorded in 2008," Francisco said. "The global financial turmoil experienced in the US and Europe last year has affected the investment climate in Davao."
He said the foreign nationalities that invested through corporations last year include Korean, British, Canadian, Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, American, Swedish, and others. He said of these nationalities, Chinese tops the list, followed by Korean and Dutch.
It was learned that the preferred industries for investment are the wholesale and retail trade sector as well as real estate.
