ARMM Investors not waiting for BBL as investments continue upward trend

DAVAO CITY -The
Regional Board of Investments (RBOI)
in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) approved a P252
million petroleum
investment project located in Polloc Free Port, Parang, Maguindanao. This was after the RBOI-Board of Governors in a joint meeting with the
members of the
Management Committee in Davao City approved yesterday the registration
of DS3 Fuel Tanking and Services Inc., the fourth project registered by
the
agency in 2015. With this new addition, ARMM has recorded Php1.8
billion total investments in the 3rd quarter of this year and
continuously going up despite the uncertainty of the passage of the Bangsamoro
Basic Law (BBL).

The
DS3
Fuel Tanking and Services Inc. is engage into providing storage
facilities,
marketing and distribution of petroleum products. The company will
mainly be
involved in the construction and operation of oil depots with total
capacity of 23 million litres per annum at Polloc Free Port, Parang,
Maguindanao. Significantly, this is the first foreign
investor to invest in the downstream oil industry in the region highlighting
businessconfidence offoreign investors inthe region even as
the BBL is still being debated in Congress.

RBOI
Chair,
Atty. Ishak V. Mastura said that such project in the downstream oil
distribution industry” is the most strategic investment because DS3
can provide the common service facilities for the different oil
distribution
industry players now and for the future in the region. The presence of
an oil
depot and oil storage facilities can possibly reduce the price of oil in
the
region, Atty. Mastura added.

According
to DS3, about 50 million litres of ground fuel is being consumed by the region per month. The company invested
in the region since they see the ARMM and its adjacent municipalities and
cities of 10 million people as a huge market opportunity to construct a fuel
storage and distribution facility to service various customers in the region
including service stations, agriculture and industrial users.

Further,
there are other investments in the pipeline this year. One of these is a Php3.7 billion cavendish banana project intended
for export market. Another is a 5,000 hectare
oil palm plantation in Maguindanao with project amounting to P1.3 billion and a napier biomass fuel production which is estimated to cost P400 million. Other firms with
investment projects that were previously approved by RBOI this year are Chan C. Mining Inc. spending Php741.8 million
for its nickel ore mining and quarrying project in Tawi-Tawi Lamsan Power
Corporation which expanded their existing power plant to an additional 5.5
megawatts capacity worth Php686.7 million in Maguindanao and Tawi-Tawian Petroleum Trading in Tawi-Tawi, a
company into importation and distribution of petroleum products which invested
Php 121.2 million.