THE Davao City Investment Promotions Center (DCIPC) will be having a digital trade mission and business-matching activities starting August this year.
DCIPC head April Marie Dayap said the office has planned to continue promoting Davao City through digital platforms in line with the physical trade missions since initiating huge events is still prohibited and travel restrictions are still imposed due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
“Kung ginabuhat nato sa una katong mga trade missions nato nga muadto gyud ta sa mga lugar aron ipromote ang Davao City, karon ginatan-aw nato ang digital platfrom aron ipromote ang city para maka establish gihapon tag trade relation sa ubang country (before, we promote Davao City by going to other countries but now, we are looking at doing it virtually to establish trade relations with other countries),” she said.
She said the plan is already complete and ready for implementation.
“We are now trying to identify kung unsa among unahon nga country and city nga among adtuan this August via digital platform (we are now trying to identify what will be the first country that we will reach out through digital platform this August),” she said.
She added the process will still be the same with the usual trade missions where the city and the opportunities for investments and travel will be presented to the potential investors.
“Our hope is that pag i-implement na namo tong digital platform, i-onboard pud ang atong mga Davao City nga businessmen para i-match sila didto sa mga businessmen sa atong adtuan nga lugar via digital platform (we will also hope to enjoin businessmen in Davao City for the digital trade mission and business mission),” she said.
Dayap admitted the response to invest may not be as immediate compared to the traditional trade missions but she is optimistic that it will still spur interest from foreign businessmen.
“We understand ang gina-agian ug naexperience karon sa mga negosyante. We cannot really say that kaning atong mga digital promotions makadala dayon, makagenerate dayon og immediate result (with the situation that the businessmen are facing now, we cannot say that it will be able to generate immediate result),” she said.
“But at least, sa atong pag promote sa Davao City kung unsa ang pwede nilang buhaton diri, ug unsa ang mga investment opportunities, basin, by the time nga makarecover na sila ang ilang interest makeep up nato para muinvest pud dinhi sa atong syudad (but in our efforts to continue promoting Davao City, they might invest as soon as they recover and we were able to sustain their interest),” she added.
Dayap noted that despite the ongoing health crisis, they were flooded with inquiries about investment opportunities.
“Bisan pa man restricted ang travel ug ang pag bisita sa atong syudad, nalipay ta nga naa gihapoy mga emails, naga inquire about Davao City ug mga investment opportunities nga pwede nila buhaton dinhi (we are happy that we are still receiving inquiries on investment opportunities),” she said.