Travel advisories making investments more expensive
by Prix D Banzon
Davao City (18 October) -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said issuance of travel advisories makes investments more expensive.
Teolulo Pasawa, Davao City director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI XI) said both local and foreign investors would give a second thought on investing as soon as travel advisories are issued because it would incur higher insurance premiums to officials (foreign nationals) of companies deployed in the areas covered.
Pasawa, together with Gil Dureza, head of the Board of Investments for Regions XI, XII, IX and part of Caraga and Ivan Cortez, assistant head of the Davao City Investment and Promotion Center, were guest during the launching of “Purely Business” forum initiated by the Davao City business reporters at Café Barcellis at J P Laurel Avenue, Davao City.
He said issuance on specific areas covered may help in coming up with their investment plans. Banning their citizens (foreign) of coming to threaten areas affects their decisions to invest.
“Definitely they will not risk firstly because the cost of investment would increase dahil tataas ang insurance coverage,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said the Davao Region is pushing positively on investments and the city of Davao is the preferred area of investment particularly on ICT.
Dureza meanwhile said that investors look for support that they get on the ground more so on land consolidation rather than the incentives.
Cortez on the other hand said that Davao is one city that had prepared the area for investments by giving all the basic inputs and that campaign for investment has been going intensively to include the giving of incentives pero medyo di matagal ang offer.
“Kung feasible ang business they will not rely on incentive to survive,” he said.
Pasawa said business locators are really looking for opportunity where they could own the land because this will hold their business on a long term basis unlike others who do not infuse on real estate ownership, the tendency is to look for other areas.
However there are sectors especially the consumers who have different views on foreigners owning properties here although he said that European investors don’t go to that extent.
Most of those foreign investors who want to own properties are from the Asian countries like Koreans, he said.
He said there are steps taken initially and this can only be achieved when there is amendment to the Constitution with regards to foreign investors given the opportunity for land ownership. (PIA XI) [top]
