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By Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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ILOILO City – The British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) is eyeing more trade and investment missions to Philippine provinces as the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte looks to spur more growth outside Manila
The BCCP plans to bring representatives of 20 to 30 British companies to Iloilo next year. It is also partnering with the British Embassy for a trade mission to Clark, Pampanga next month.
“Clark has infrastructure, Iloilo also has development going on. The Philippines has a lot to offer British companies and vice versa,” said BCCP executive chairman Chris Nelson during a business forum in Manila.
Last March, the BCCP brought a delegation to Davao which opened the door for two British firms to set up shop in the city.
Nelson says around 60 companies from the United Kingdom are seriously considering to invest in the Philippines, many in the infrastructure, retail, and health care service.
However, the BCCP official underscored the need importance of improving the ease of doing business and accelerating the progress of infrastructure plans in the country.
BCCP is set to lead a forum on Aug. 10, which will be attended by the administration’s economic managers. The event seeks to discuss the progress of the government’s economic and infrastructure plans.
ILOILO A ‘SMART’ CITY
“[Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog] envisions Iloilo City to be a premier smart city of excellence, as well as a ‘SMART’ metropolis – an acronym that stands for our priority industries: services, manufacturing, agribusiness, arts & culture, research and technology, and tourism,” shared city Local Economic and Investment Promotion Office (LEIPO) head Ritchel Gavan.
Gavan further highlighted the city’s ten main priorities for development as of the moment:
1. Education
2. Manpower and livelihood
3. Business streamlining
4. Business tax incentives
5. Utilities
6. Peace and order
7. Anti-corruption
8. Infrastructure
9. Environment
10. Healthy lifestyle and recreation
“Our previous vision was to be a ‘premier city’ by 2015, and amazingly Iloilo was so good in achieving this vision that it was reached in 2013,” added Gavan. “So that’s why we had to expand on vision. [Our top ten main priorities] are our guide to planning and policy making. These have augmented and simplified our goals of transforming Iloilo into a highly competitive and urbanized metropolis.”
“We assure you that Iloilo City’s local economy is here to stay, here to compete in the global community because Iloilo city means investment opportunities, growth and development,” the LEIPO head concluded. (with a report from ANC/PN)
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