ON SUNDAY, April 30, 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo will lead the launching of the Davao City-General Santos-Bitung, Indonesia route.
Concerned government agencies and the business chambers in both countries have long been pushing for operations of this route which is seen to give traders and exporters a faster and cheaper sea trade route between the Philippines and Indonesia.
The launching of the sea route goes to show the confidence of businessmen in the economic potentials of not only Mindanao but also of the Brunei Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia the Philippine East Asean Growth Area.
Mindanao Development Authority chairperson secretary Datu Abul Khayr Alonto said the sea route will spur trading between Indonesia and the Philippines.
This sea linkage is definitely something that we can truly be happy of. We can expect that once the Davao City-General Santos-Bitung route becomes successful, similar sea trade routes could possibly established connecting Mindanao to the world.
Alonto said they are also looking into the possibility of reviving the sea trade route between Tawi-tawi and Tarakan, Indonesia.
We have also seen growing interest from foreign airlines like Emirates and Etihad of United Arab Emirates and Xiamen Airlines of China to launch flights between their hubs and Davao City. Should these flights push through, it would definitely boost Davao City's and Mindanao's tourism industry and also spur economic activity here.
International linkages are not the only ones that are being established or planned, we are also seeing additional domestic air routes between Davao City and key domestic destinations like Puerto Princesa City, Clark, and Caticlan.
The recent developments in air and sea connectivity will surely allow better movement of people and trade between cities and countries. These routes will also further push Davao City into fully becoming a global city.