Davao City (26 October) -- Hijo Resources Corporation, a private non-commercial port operating in Tagum City gets two potential investors for its proposed Hijo Port Town and Apo Industrial Estate, Port and Housing Development projects: Amerint Co. and MCC Capital Projects.

Said companies formally linked up at the business matching session of the first Investment Conference (iCon) of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) held October 22-23 at the Marco Polo Hotel this city.

"This is an important update for our local private sectors since they could now avail of funding not sourced out from the traditional Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) which is done solely through government-to-government agreements and usually takes longer time to process," Philippine Signing Minister for BIMP-EAGA Sec. Jesus Dureza disclosed in a press briefing.

Amerint Co., an international Manila-based financing firm is willing to serve as hedge-fund provider to develop large-scale feasible development projects starting from a minimum capital outlay of US $10 M to the partner-beneficiary.

MCC Capital Projects, Ltd. a Britain-based fund manager with international/regional representatives, likewise, is open to financing various real estate related projects such as port infrastructure expansion and enhancement of existing facilities.

Moreover, MCC is also open to accepting municipal guarantees of the respective Local Government Units (LGUs) and regional banks through bond flotation, hence, not limited to bilateral agreements which require greater regulations if obtained through national sovereign guarantees. An ocular visit was already done by MCC Capital, Ltd. at the Tagum City project location site.

HIJO is an alternative conduit for fresh banana export produce of the Davao Region. It currently operates two berths in Barangay Madaum, Tagum City, Davao del Norte and is a legitimate holder of a twenty-five year certificate of registration/permit to operate (COR/PTO) from the Philippine Ports Authority. Apart from the basic port features, it is also replete with warehouses, a pipeline and conveyor facilities to cater to the transport needs of its own international-bound cargoes that require upgrading to continually be at par with its foreign counterparts.

The iCon is an innovation of the private sector such as the BIMP-EAGA Business Council through its national steering committee in the Philippines, the Mindanao Business Council to organize key players in economic cooperation and in coordination with other member-countries' trade sectors and international partners.

About 16 institutional exhibitors participated in the pioneering iCon event composed of member-country stakeholders and development organizations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Australian Assistance on International Development (AUSAID) were also represented.

Four priority/thematic areas that have the most impact to the economic cooperation were tackled during the iCon: 1) Transportation, Infrastructure and Communication;2) Tourism Development; 3) Natural Resource Development and; 4) Small and Medium-Scale Enterprise Development.