DAVAO CITY - Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the spike in investments in the Muslim autonomous region is a sign of increasing business confidence in the area.

Citing a report from the Board of Investment, Aquino said investments in the Muslim autonomous region reached P1.46 billion in 2013 - higher by 157% compared to the P569 million worth of investments in 2012.

Aquino also lauded the entry of Iron Blaze Petroleum, Inc. at Polloc Port in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the autonomous region, where it put a nine-million liter depot facility.

Iron Blaze Petroleum, Inc - an oil trading and importing firm - begun shipping cheaper gasoline from nearby Sabah and Labuan in Malaysia in December. However, more supplies of this cheaper gasoline from Sabah and Labuan are needed before it can put a dent to the high oil prices in Central Mindanao.

RBOI Chairman Ishak Mastura said: "This could be the start of something big since the oil supply for the oil depot comes from neighboring Malaysia. Experts are telling us that this budding trade and investment relationship could be crucial for our future economic growth, as ARMM transitions to the new 'Bangsamoro' political entity."

Malaysia is the facilitator of the peace deal between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

According to Mastura, just this month, Lamsan Power Corporation based in Maguindanao's Sultan Kudarat town also registered with the Board of Investment its biomass renewable energy project costing P921.56 million.

He said the power plant will utilize rice hull, coconut husks, corn cobs and other agricultural wastage from its own corn starch plant with a capacity of 15 megawatts (MW).

The project is expected to reduce the commercial power consumption of its corn starch operations. This will also augment power reserves of the National Power Corporation and the Mindanao Grid since Lamsan Power will be selling 11.5 MW to these power companies.

The Board of Investment also registered another firm, ABSCOR Multi-Trading Company which is engaged in import and export business based in Basilan province.

ABSCOR stands for ASEAN Business System Company Organizing Resources. Its president Abraham Menor said and his Malaysian partners, who are respected and reputable business people in Sabah - among them Hajja Sidang Ahmad, of Rosita Enterprises; Raiza Zainal Abidin, of Raiza Enterprises, and Susan Binti Ladjaguni, of Susan Hardware Enterprises - has set up headquarters in Port Holland in Maluso town and another satellite office in Zamboanga City.

"We are trading company that deals with import and export in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and this is also one way to help small traders who are not capable or cannot put up their own firm, but now through ABSCOR Multi-Trading Company, we can help them in importing or exporting products and commodities to other countries and vice versa," Menor said.

"Our aim now is to strengthen ABSCOR and help in the economy, not only in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, but the whole country as well. We are also seriously looking into the manufacturing sector - among them the processing of seaweeds which ABSCOR can export, we will deal with agricultural and marine products, construction and hardware materials, food stuff and groceries, including scrap metals - those would be our main line of business," he added.

Menor said their company would also provide jobs, aside from their social responsibility or commitment to the communities or in areas where they operate.

"There is a lot projects and programs that we are now working on and we also would like to do our share in helping the country, in nation building and promote the ARMM, the Philippines in other countries as a place to come and invest and in the end, it is our people who will reap the fruits of all our labor," he said.

Menor said they are concentrating their import-export business in BIMP-EAGA which consists of Brunei Darussalam, Central Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Maluku, Sabah and Sarawak states and the Federal Territory of Labuan in Malaysia. East and West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Irian Jaya in Indonesia, and Mindanao and Palawan province in the Philippines.

BIMP-EAGA is eyed as a major location in ASEAN of high value-added agro-industry; natural resource- based manufacturing, and high-grade tourism as well as non resource-based industries. (Mindanao Examiner)

By mindanaoexaminer.com

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