View source for Business boom is real

*Source:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/business/2016/01/04/business-boom-real-449939
*Monday, January 4, 2016 
:By Ace June Rell S. Perez

BUSINESS in Davao City continues to boom as capitalization of all the existing, expanding, and new business establishments in the city reached a total of P214 billion as of November 20, 2015.

The November record of the city’s Business Bureau office as reported by the Davao City Investment Promotion Center showed some 1.4 percent increase as compare to last 2014’s annual business capitalization record at P211.9 billion.

Speaking in Monday’s Kapehan Sa Dabaw edition at the SM City Annex, Ivan C. Cortez, officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Davao City Investment Promotions Center (DCIPC) told reporters that from January to November 20 of last year, the city recorded a total of 37,785 business establishments, 34, 711 of which were issued with business permits.

“Every after year we really expect and experience growth on the business establishments and capitalization. We can attribute the increase in business capitalization to the increasing number of small businesses being merged into one business entity and of course the business climate and environment here is very alive and healthy, also the good return of investment (ROI) undoubtedly Davao is keep on becoming a big market for investments and businesses,” Cortez said.

Of the total P214 billion business capitalization, P209.8 billion were poured by the business establishments that renewed business permits while P4.2 billion is contributed by the new business establishments.

Based on the data provided by DCIPC, Business Bureau recorded a total of 5,630 new business establishments that applied for permits, 4,880 of which were issued.

Furthermore, the data showed that businesses here in the city have an 81 percent survival rate as of November of last year. The final report is expected to reach around 88.19 percent for the whole year of 2015.

Meanwhile, Department of Trade and Industry Davao region director, Maria Belenda Q. Ambi for her part said that as per Board of Investment (BOI) report, Davao Region reached a total of P1.4 billion in new investments.

“Biggest bulk of the new investments in Davao Region is contributed by the real property development, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), among others,” Ambi said.

Cortez also noted that the retail and service industry take the lead in the city’s economic activities.

However, he underscored that to attain more sustainable growth in the city’s economy, continued increase in investments must be poured down to manufacturing and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) sector.

“BPO and manufacturing activities will generate real growth because there will be continuous activities of production.

Of the total business establishments here, only 5 percent is for the manufacturing sector but good thing is negotiations is ongoing in establishing manufacturing areas in the city,” Cortez said.

For prospects in 2016, both DCIPC and DTI Davao is bullish that positive growth will continue in the city and the region.

“If Davao will sustain its friendly and healthy business climate and environment, definitely not only international investments will keep on coming but local businesses will also expand,” Ambi said.