Cotabato City eyes influx of investments in 2015

COTABATO CITY -- Several foreign groups of companies are expected to pour in investments to Cotabato City this year, officials said Monday. A group of Malaysian investors have already finished putting up a water distilling plant with its equipment needed will be delivered anytime soon. According to Secretary to the Mayor Aniceto Rasalan, the objective of the Malaysian investors in building the plant in the city is to set an affordable price of the distilled drinking water that will surely compete with the commercial brands that are available in the city. Malaysian traders said the price of distilled water will be about 30 to 35 percent lower as compared to existing brands in the city, Rasalan said in a statement. Rasalan said the Malaysian investors will be supporting the program of the Department of Health, wherein patients admitted to public hospitals will be provided with distilled drinking water to ensure safety. The water distilling plant will be inaugurated on March 15. Another group of Malaysian investors are involved in aquamarine business in which they will give hands-on training to the fishermen of Tamontaka on how to culture export quality crabs. The remaining groups of Malaysians are interested on waste to energy project and trading. On the other hand, two Japanese investors from different companies have also taken interest in aquamarine industry. andltpandgtThey will be buying cultured eels and mud fish supplies from fisher folks of Barangays Tamontaka 2, 3, 4, and where most of these will be exported to Japan. Apart from buying and exporting cultured eels, and mudfish, the Japanese will also conduct training and teach the fishermen some fishing and culturing techniques. The benefit here is the technology transfer. The Japanese traders said they are willing to teach techniques and methods. Whoever is interested will be trainded, free of charge, to increase production and exported to Japan, Rasalan said. To date, Rasalan said, more than 280 households have already expressed willingness to undergo these training and technology transfer. It will boost the local economy, it will generate employment, the inland fishing or fresh water fishing will be developed, he said. A Jordanian engineer has already started an aquamarine project to be implemented in Barangay Kalanganan, a coastal village west of Cotabato City. The project is to improve or increase the production of crabs, shrimps, milk fish, and prawns. According to the Jordanian engineer, if the project will be implemented, the production will be more than double, compared to the current production. Currently, prawn and crab fishermen in Barangay Kalanganan only produce one ton per harvest. Once the project is fully operational, they can produce by as much as 7.5 to 10 tons per harvest. All these business endeavours are expected to help in the development of the city’s economic status. As of now, talks are ongoing between the local government and other investors who are also interested in putting up their investments in the city.