THE Bureau of Investments (BOI) recorded P7.62 billion worth of investments in Davao Region as of the third quarter of this year.
Data presented during the Department of Trade and Industry in Davao Region (DTI 11) Media Interface at the Pinnacle Hotel and Suites showed that 54 percent of the registered investments are mainly real estate projects, followed by manufacturing (30 percent); agriculture, forestry, and fishing (12 percent); and electricity, gas, steam, and airconditioning supply (4 percent).
"These are commited investments. These are not yet on the ground and are registered only. Hopefully this will be realized in the following year," said Maria Belenda Q. Ambi, DTI 11 regional director.
The biggest investment registered was the P1.33 billion meat processing plant project of San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI) in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
In a previous press release, BOI said the project will be a fully mechanized, integrated processing facility that will be utilizing the technology of electric stimulation in carcasses.
"According to SMFI, the technology will improve the quality of chicken by enhancing bleeding capability of carcass and meat tenderness even without maturation by chilling process. Both facilities will be constructed as 'AAA' plants in compliance with the standards set by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS)," BOI said in a statement.
The second largest investment came from Communities Davao, Inc., which is pouring in P1.05 billion for the development of an economic and low-cost housing project in Communal, Buhangin, Davao City.
Rounding up the top three is the P763.15 million Deca Homes Mulig project of 8990 Housing Development Corporation in Mulig, Toril, Davao City.
Also part of the region's five biggest registered investments are Smartflute Corrugated Pacakaging Company, Inc.'s the P455.33 million project on the production of corrugated boxes in Carmen, Davao del Norte and SL Agritech Corporation's P450 million project on the production of hybrid rice seeds and by-products in Matanao, Davao del Sur.
Davao City recorded the most number of investments at P4.90 billion, followed by Davao del Sur (P1.78 billion), Davao del Norte (P546.81 million), and Compostela Valley (P386.74 billion). The BOI has not recorded any investments for Davo Oriental and Davao Occidental.
It can also be noted that the investments registered in the third quarter 2017 is still a couple of billions away from the P10.26 billion registered investments in 2016.
Ambi said investments registered to BOI are those that will be availing of the incentives from the bureau and some investments may have been registered directly to the local government units, hence not being captured by the monitoring of BOI.
"It doesn't mean that investments in the region are going down. Not all investments are being captured by BOI. There those that do not qualify for (BOI) incentives so they go through the different promotion offices of the local government unit (LGU)," Ambi said.
She pointed out that if they will also include investments registered by the local government units, the total investments this year could potentially surpass that of last year.
"I would like to emphasize that for Davao Region, business has been brisk for 2017. There were a lot of interest from investors. While the records in BOI show that there are lower registered investments, it may have increased in the local investment promotion offices. We saw how (business) registrations have gone up in the region," Ambi said.