INVESTMENTS in infrastructure are needed to boost Davao City's and General Santos City's bid to become transshipment hubs in the East Asean Growth Area (Eaga), a trade official said.
"One of the opportunities for Davao/General Santos Area, because of its strategic location, is its potential to become a transshipment hub in the Eaga sub-region, covering trades to and from Northeast Indonesia, East Malaysia, Brunei, and West New Guinea and (including) China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam," said Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Sec. Gregory L. Domingo in his keynote message before some 700 participants during the opening of the National Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Summit on Wednesday at SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang.
But he pointed out that to realize this potential, there is a need to pour in more investments in infrastructure.
"Davao is doing just that with the ongoing road development projects," Domingo said.
"Also, a public-private partnership project will be established to expand the capacity of the Davao Sasa Wharf and transform it into an international standard container terminal and thereby significantly increase operational performance, reduce vessel waiting time, and attract direct calls of large foreign container vessel," he added.
Domingo said businessmen must continue to work together to invest in the right infrastructure and by pushing the national and local governments to share the same priorities.
"With these investments, [the] success story...will continue to unfold and should result in vast opportunities for MSMEs," he said.