Yearend Report: Davao in the spotlight

THE year 2017 had been interesting for the business sector of Davao City especially so that some of the businessmen admit to exerting extra effort in providing good business or even expansion in the city by taking advantage of the fact that the Philippine president is a Dabawenyo.

The hype had even started middle of 2016 after President Rodrigo Roa-Duterte was elected in the position. Davao-based businessmen and those from outside the city who had expressed interest in expanding within the city said they see that this hype will continue to go for the next five years.

Almost all the sectors covered by the industry had something huge that happened for the year including that of infrastructure, trade, agriculture, and tourism.

One of the investors from outside Davao that seriously took interest in the potential that Davao City has is Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) having had launched three different residential and mixed-use projects in the city within the year.

CLI had signed agreements with their Davao-based partners, Yuson Strategic Holdings and Davao Filandia Realty Corp. for their Davao Riverside project and their Matina golf club project. Their MesaTierra Garden Residences broke ground last October.

It had also been the talk of the town when St. Luke’s Medical Center, one of the premium hospitals in Metro Manila, announced their expansion to Davao City. Their branch in the city is their third branch and the first that will be located outside Metro Manila. The hospital will be located inside the 25-hectare Azuela Cove at Lanang, Davao City and is targeted to have a 600-bed capacity and will employ about 2,500 to 3,000 people both for medical and clerical operations. St. Luke’s Medical Center Chief Operating Officer (COO) assured that most of their employed personnel will be from Davao City.

To further expand export and import relations of Mindanao to Indonesia, the Davao-Gensan-Bitung RORO route was opened last April making use of the Super Shuttle Roro 12, a vessel with a 500-TEU capacity. This route was then hoped to ignite agricultural trade in between the two countries especially with exchange of animal feeds, aqua products, charcoal, coffee beans, construction materials, Halal-certified poultry, soya, synthetics, and vegetables among others.

However, about seven months after, the route was not as utilized as expected due to a limited number of businesses patronizing the routes. On November, Consul General of the Indonesian Consulate in Davao City Berlian Napitupulu said local Indonesian entrepreneurs have initiated sail of Gloria 28, a smaller vessel which served as alternative to the Shuttle Roro 12.

Napitupulu added because of the smaller capacity of the alternative vessel, it was easier to fill it up causing a more frequent use of the route as compared to a much bigger vessel. He clarified that what was opened in April was the route and regardless of the vessel to be used, as long as the route is intact and continues to export and import products to and from Indonesia, the route was never a failure.

Because of the great interest investors and visitors have for the city, traffic congestion had gone to be an issue and a problem to Dabawenyos.

Just a few days before Christmas, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Davao Region opened for light vehicles the Talomo-Puan Bypass Road, which is 2.6 kilometer long and is estimated to be worth P190 million. According to DPWH, this bypass road is expected to help decongest traffic especially for vehicles travelling to and from the southern part of the city.

As land and sea routes were opened for easier access to the city, various Davao direct flights were also launched this year as well which had made a lot of Dabawenyos and tourists excited.

Philippine Airlines launched their Davao-Cagayan de Oro, Davao-Tagbilaran, Davao-Zamboanga, and Davao-Clark flights this year. Cebu Pacific opened Davao-Tacloban and Davao-Dumaguete direct flights. For this year, AirAsia’s launching of Davao-Kuala Lumpur flight was the first and only Davao direct international flight launched this year but had sparked excitement and interest both to tourists and investors alike.

Tourism Davao Regional director Roberto Alabado III sees the new Davao-Kuala Lumpur flight as Halal-related business opportunity.

As Davao City continues to gain interest and be in the limelight, hotels in the city had started with their renovation upgrading the façade and the services that they provide. Apo View Hotel, under a new management was relaunched by the last quarter of 2017. They were reported to have already spent P280 million for the renovation and construction of additional rooms, entrée, the ballroom, and the jazz room. Apo View is the oldest hotel in Davao City having been around for 70 years.

The Royal Mandaya was reported to have allotted P14 million in renovating several of their hotel facilities. They have prioritized renovation of their main lobby, Kamayo Café, the VIP room, the Royal ballroom, and their hallway. With the renovation, the café had an increased capacity of about 92 diners.

Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao was also previously reported to have their guest rooms undergo major renovations. Part of the refurbishing will also be the improvement of their function rooms and lobby area. There have yet to say how much they intend to spend for the renovation but Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao did share that they wanted to capitalize on the sudden increase of foot and tourist traffic in the city.

Davao City was also host to a number of major international events this year like Asean-related summit during Philippines’ hosting of the Asean Summit; an ancillary event of the Miss Universe 2016 pageant; and the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the city during his state visit in the Philippines.

These events, together with other national conferences, helped strengthen Davao city as a major venue for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions.

It was truly a vibrant 2017 for the business sector despite the implementation of martial law in Mindanao. While there was an initial wait and see phase after the declaration of martial law, it did not stop investors from being bullish in the economy of Davao City.

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