Phl promotes Davao at China-Asean expo

NANNING – The Davao region took center stage as the country’s representative to the “City of Charms” pavilion at the 11th China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Expo (CAEXPO) here this week.

“We are featuring Davao’s products and culture,” said Rosario Tañada-Liwanag, project officer for the CAEXPO 2014.

“The ultimate objective of coming here is to promote, and to encourage investors to come to the Philippines,” she added.

Doris Gacho, project manager of CAEXPO, said Davao – considered a key player in the economic and trade association Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area – offers a lot of business and investment opportunities to foreign investors.

She said among the priority investment areas in the region are agri-business, tourism and recreational facilities.

Other priority investment areas in the Davao region include environment protection, information and communications technology, generation of new sources of energy, transportation and infrastructure and public-private partnerships.

According to the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export marketing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, investing in Davao has advantages as it is strategically located in Mindanao and offers culturally-diverse and cosmopolitan locations.

It also boasted Davao as one of the three places in the world, aside from the US and Canada, to have incorporated the Integrated Emergency Response System, as well as established health and environment-oriented and crime prevention laws.

“On top of its nature’s wealth, Davao is a culturally-diverse city where 11 indigenous tribes dwell. The cosmopolitan city also accommodates migrants from local and foreign cities,” added CITEM.

Gacho said the response of CAEXPO visitors to the Davao pavilion is very positive, attributing it to the “crowd favorite” performances of members of an ethnic group from the region who were invited to perform during the event.

She said they are eyeing Zamboanga to be the country’s representative to the CAEXPO’s City of Charms next year.