Koronadal proffer biz-friendly initiatives to lure investors
The City of Koronadal, with its strategic location and ease of doing business, presents significant opportunities for economic growth through innovation in local programs and policies to support and encourage businesses.
With the long-term goal of enticing capitalists to come and invest, the Ogena administration went above and beyond to ensure that the cities remained viable locations for business opportunities and economic recovery. The city government, which has always welcomed both domestic and foreign investment, has put in place a number of initiatives to ensure a business-friendly investment climate by focusing on the fundamentals of improving the economy’s productivity and long-term growth.
Ms. Kirbie Mae Pacinabao, Development Management Officer IV of the Investment Promotion Division, assures in an interview that the city’s current investment climate, competitive advantage, promising market, green initiatives, effective governance, and business-friendly policies and incentives indicate the city’s readiness to receive big investors.
In the “Tingog sang Pagsanyog” Facebook live development program, Pacinabao outlined some of the factors and policies that contribute to the city’s investment climate. According to her, the influx of people is very visible as a result of the city’s strategic location as the regional center site, as well as its capacity to host big events.
According to Pacinabao, the inflow of visitors to the city as a result of big national conventions is particularly noticeable this time of year. With this, the city government is attempting to demonstrate its competitive advantage to investors. In terms of competitive factors, she discussed common visitor feedbacks on the city’s cleanliness and extensive road networks, including traffic flows. Also, she emphasizes the beautification projects and provision of infrastructure facilities such as bike lanes and streetlights, which are important in ensuring peace and order, as well as being a clean and green city, which is a key factor for investors.
On the other hand, an existing tax exemption policy is an important consideration for investors. According to Pacinabao, in terms of tax incentives, Resolution No. 258 “Enacting the City of Koronadal Revised Investment Code of 1998” provides provisions on giving incentives to pioneer enterprises with investment that falls under the investment priority area, which provides full exemption from business taxes for 5 years, exemption from Real Property Tax, and exemption from some Local Business Permit fees.
Meanwhile, in the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index 2023 Rankings, the city was recently named the Top 8 Most Resilient City in the Component City Category. Cities and municipalities are ranked based on the sum of their scores on five pillars: economic vitality, government efficiency, infrastructure, resilience, and innovation. The City and Municipal Competitiveness Index (CMCI) is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development. According to the CMCI, resiliency is a place’s ability to facilitate businesses and industries in creating jobs, increasing productivity, and increasing citizens’ incomes over time despite setbacks and constraints.
Also, Pacinabao emphasized the importance of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism, which aims to bring together top professionals from all industries in an enhanced, tailor-made hospitality setting. She sees this as an opportunity to introduce the city to a wider audience.
Moreover, Pacinabao also highlighted the need to build on manpower sufficiency as one of the investors’ considerations. She also stressed the importance of assisting the city’s existing Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s), which they are already doing as an office by assisting them in marketing and introducing their products and services. “They are projecting Koronadal’s image. If their product will be carried to other places and people will like it, they will find out where it is coming from and be lured to discover the city”, she said.
Ways forward, the Investment Promotion Division intends to hold year-round free entrepreneurial trainings by inviting experts in the field. “We always start with entrepreneurial mind setting,” Pacinabao said.More entrepreneurs are expected to be produced and developed as a result of the program.
As part of its digitalization efforts, the city government has implemented an online system to expedite the processing of business registration applications in order to improve the ease of doing business in the city. This project’s payment center is the Landbank of the Philippines. The payment will be made through the Land Bank I-Access Portal. Any ATM Card that is a BancNet member can be used.
The City of Koronadal Investment Board, which holds regular meetings and dialogues with the Koronadal Chamber of Commerce. This allows the government to learn about some issues and concerns so that leaders can assess their needs. This will eventually help the administration’s decision-making and policy-making processes.
“Go big or go home, if you’re going to envision, make it big,” Pacinabao said. She envisioned Koronadal as a top investment in Mindanao capable of competing with large cities. She did, however, emphasize the importance of balance in development in order to avoid environmental destruction, congestion, and pollution.
Pacinabao is optimistic about the City of Koronadal’s goal of achieving a sustainable green economy in which development can be made without jeopardizing the environment or the social needs of the people. This is where the government’s efforts are heading.