VICE President Sara Duterte said Davao is ready to serve as a gateway between Mindanao and Borneo, calling for stronger cross-border cooperation to expand trade, investment and opportunities across the region.
“Davao is more than ready to be a destination, to be a gateway between producers and markets, between ideas and investments,” Duterte said Friday, September 18, during the Davao-Borneo Growth Corridor Forum ’26 at SMX Convention Center in Davao City.
She used the stories of two women — a Sabah trader who left her family’s traditional livelihood and a young Tausug woman who left Mindanao to pursue her dream — to illustrate the opportunities that could open through stronger regional ties.
The Sabah trader, Duterte said, had spent years moving goods across Malaysia, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga while speaking Bahasa, Arabic, Tausug, Bisaya and Tagalog.
“Borders divide countries, not economies, cultures, or people, but the kidnappings. The government banned the trade,” Duterte said.
What the woman’s family had done for generations became smuggling, she said, prompting the trader to leave for the Gulf to work as a domestic helper.
Duterte also described a young Tausug woman from Sulu who taught herself Bahasa by watching Malaysian television and dreamed of becoming a video editor.
“She could not find enough opportunity here to match what she knew she could become. So she left,” Duterte said.
Duterte said the two stories show what happens when talent and enterprise meet borders that cannot be safely crossed.
“Please keep their stories in mind. We are not here simply to discuss infrastructure or investment figures. We are here to decide what kind of region we want to build,” she said.
She cited the 32-year history of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), which now covers 82.68 million people and has a combined economic output of $1.34 trillion.
“That is no longer a peripheral opportunity. That is an economic force,” Duterte said.
“The question is not whether we can grow together, but why we are not moving faster.”
Duterte outlined four priorities for the forum: moving from proximity to partnership, complementarity to investment, connectivity to economic value, and partnership to action.
She said Mindanao and Borneo share a coastline, history, culture, food and languages, and called for cross-border cooperation to become an everyday reality rather than an occasional project.
Duterte said Mindanao brings agriculture, tourism and a growing market, while Borneo brings capital, industry and logistics.
“These are not competing pieces. They are pieces of the same puzzle,” she said, citing $165.96 billion in merchandise trade moving through the region.
Duterte also urged governments and businesses to ensure infrastructure creates economic value rather than simply adding roads, ports and airports.
“We talk about infrastructure as though the road, the port, the airport is the destination. It is not,” she said.
Duterte cited 265 priority infrastructure projects worth $174.6 billion but stressed that infrastructure must connect producers to markets.
“A port only matters when a farmer can reach a market. A shipping route matters when a trader can cross the sea safely. Infrastructure without use is just concrete,” she said.
She called for shorter and faster trade routes, including connecting a farm in Davao del Norte with a buyer in Kota Kinabalu and linking manufacturers in Sarawak with markets in Mindanao.
Duterte urged governments to align policies, strengthen border systems and build safer routes.
She also called on business leaders and investors to form cross-border consortia and co-invest in infrastructure and services.
“Start with a dedicated Mindanao and Borneo team. Start with new trade arrangements,” Duterte said.
She also called for the practical revival of legitimate maritime trade through safer sea routes, clear customs procedures and modern systems that bring informal activity into the formal economy.
“Let us leave with agreements we can sign and commitments that before 2030 we can point to and say that started here,” she said.
Returning to the two women, Duterte imagined a future in which the Sabah trader could move goods legally and safely between Sabah, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga and Davao.
Her trade would be formal, her route reliable and her market bigger, Duterte said, allowing her to support her family without risking her life.
She also imagined the young Tausug woman finding opportunities close to home.
“She still speaks Bahasa. She still dreams of becoming a video editor. She still longs to be in Mindanao,” Duterte said.
This time, she said, the woman could work for a company in Kota Kinabalu, Bandar Seri Begawan, or Kuching while staying in Mindanao.
“This is what growth should mean to us. Not just more cargo, more investments, bigger numbers, but more reasons to stay and more ways for talent to find a market without leaving home,” Duterte said.
She urged the region’s partners to move “from proximity to connectivity, from connectivity to opportunity, and from opportunity to shared prosperity.”
Duterte ended with a vision of a region linked by shared economic opportunities: “Several communities. One shared future.” MLSA
