THE MALAYSIAN Chamber of Commerce and Industries Philippines eyes to put up a branch in the city to promote trade and investment between the two areas.
MCCI Philippines president How Han Hui said establishing a branch in the city will enable connections with the local companies in the city and explore investment opportunities.
“We definitely look for room to grow. Davao is one of the cities, after Manila, that we are trying to bring our branch and office here,” Hui said during the Doing Business with Malaysia seminar at Dusit Thani, on March 12.
While the city has numerous infrastructure projects ongoing, he noted how they can assist in terms of looking into more cost-efficient and labor-efficient construction methods.
Malaysian companies will also be interested in investing in agribusiness given Davao City’s land size.
“It will matter how long the time will take, the room to grow is there, of course the investors will look for the potential place to invest and grow their value, so I think Davao is a very good place in this region,” he said.
Christian Cambaya, the Davao City Investment Promotions Center unit head, said Malaysian companies should locate in the city to ease business access.
The unit chief noted the city received a total of P3 billion worth of investment pledges for 2024 from prospective investors who signified to invest in the city.
The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), which organized the seminar, said it is a market immersion mission involving Malaysian companies and companies from the city.
Six mid-tier level companies from various sectors including engineering, building materials, construction services, telecommunications, and renewable energy, participated in the mission.
Intan Zalani, MATRADE commissioner in Manila, said the mission provides an avenue for the Filipino companies to familiarize the Malaysian and vice versa with the business climate of the city.
The city’s investment and promotion center and the city’s chamber of commerce and industry were also present.
“We believe that there are a lot of opportunities here not only with construction and building materials but also ICT, Halal, this mission will kickstart to drive growth of Malaysian companies in Davao,” Zalani said.
The seminar included a one-on-one business matching session between Malaysians and companies in the city to discuss investment prospects.
