DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) here has recently called for a convergence among Local Economic and Investment Promotion Officers (LEIPOs) to help them lure more investors.
DTI-Davao del Sur Investment Promotion Officer Ma. Victoria R. Placer said the one-day seminar was basically an orientation and introduction to investment promotion, the most fundamental information that every LEIPO must know.
With the participation of 13 LEIPOs and the Mayor of Padada, Lawyer Gladys Razonable Gascon, the convergence focused on providing an orientation on investment promotion as a strategy to enhance the competitiveness of the city and municipalities as an investment destination.
“While we augur more investments, we are actually improving the economic condition of the community especially that more investments mean more job opportunities are created,” she said.
Placer said the convergence was in response to the identified need for the local government units (LGUs) to enhance their capability to promote investments into their area being a devolved function from DTI to the LGUs per the Local Government Code. Likewise, this will also address the requirement for the LGUs to be awarded the Seal of Good Local Governance by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) with the designation of their respective LEIPOs and the streamlining of their Business Permit and Licensing System (BPLS).
During the seminar, Placer gave an orientation on the framework conditions and benefits of an LGU to go into investment promotion and the general context of investment promotion, while DTI-Davao Region’s Investment and Industry Development Division (IIDD) chief Vedastito C. Galvez presented the roles, duties and functions and the competencies of an investment promotion officer. On the other hand, Sta. Cruz Provincial Agri-Industrial Center (PAIC) administrator Camila Infiesto shared the municipality’s experience and strategies on how it became a major investment destination in the Davao Region. It can be observed that some of the biggest investors in the region are located in Sta. Cruz, like San Miguel Corporation and Franklin Baker.
“This convergence is just an initial step to develop the competencies and capabilities of the LEIPOs and the LGUs in Davao del Sur,” Placer said.
Other activities to follow will include an advanced capability-enhancement training program, drafting of their respective investment promotion programs, benchmarking to other industrial centers in the country, and exposures to different investment promotion activities.
In 2013, the Board of Investments (BOI), DTI’s investment arm, registered a total of P31.667 billion worth of investments from 13 projects, six of which are in Davao del Sur.(DTI-DS/MVRP/jmm)
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