TWO Cagayan de Oro City councilors visited Gwangyang City in South Korea signifying the two cities' bilateral relationship particularly in strengthening economic ties.
City Councilor Suzette Magtajas-Daba said their visit was meant to generate investments from Gwangyang, which is home to a multinational steel-making company and the largest facility in the world.
Magatajas-Daba described their four-day visit, along with City Councilor Jay Pascual, as fruitful and successful.
Gwangyang Mayor Jeong Hyunbok, earlier wrote to Mayor Moreno, saying he believes the leadership and commitment of Moreno will create “an economical (sic), political, social and cultural environment that will encourage bilateral cooperation between the sister cities.”
"It was a very positive visit, they are very interested with Cagayan de Oro. This relationship can yield to opportunities for Kagay-anons, generate income and solve one of the major problems in the country which is unemployment," she said.
Daba said the city could send skilled workers to Gwangyang, transport agriculture products from Cagayan de Oro to Gwangyang, among others.
She said she is hopeful that being recognized as the fifth most competitive city in the country would translate to more investments for Cagayan de Oro.
The investment climate in Cagayan de Oro has been relatively good.
According to the National Economic Development Authority, in the first quarter of this year, Misamis Oriental, which includes Cagayan de Oro posted the highest value of investment at P3 billion
However, Misamis Oriental is still one of the provinces recorded to have the largest decrease in investment at 57.3 percent.
In the second quarter of this year, investments in Misamis Oriental continue to suffer a blow registering only a total of P2.87 billion of investments.