Europe businessmen keen on Mindanao investments

MANILA, Philippines — European businessmen have committed to pour in significant investments to Mindanao once the peace and order issues in the region are solved.

“First things first, we need to address the peace and order situation,” European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Guenter Taus said.

Taus said the Mindanao Development Authority has sought the European chamber’s assistance on how it can help out in the peace and order situation there.

“We said this is not for us to tackle. What we can do and what we will do is once the peace and order situation has been contained and we find solutions to it, we will make sure that we bring investments there,” he said.

He said potential investments which European companies could bring into Min-danao are in the areas of technology and farming.

“One thing is a fact, you will not be able to grow at a rate you would like to see the Philippines growing if we cannot contain the peace and order situation. It’s vital to bring the business here,” Taus said.

“Again we live in a time when terrorism is omnipresent not only in the Philippines but everywhere else in the world so it’s just a matter of how you handle it,” he added.

Mindanao is expected to remain under martial law until the end of the year.

It has been placed under martial law since last May 23 after incidents of clashes arose between Filipino government troops and Islamist militants in Marawi City.

Businesses, however, are being told to prepare their investments for numerous opportunities that would arise in Marawi and other provinces in Mindanao once the ongoing conflict there is solved.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez earlier said a rehabilitation plan for the war-torn Marawi is on its way and investors should capitalize on the rebuilding of the city.

“Once this is all done, there will be much higher confidence level to areas close to Marawi. Even bigger in Marawi itself. A lot of activities will really kick off. A lot of opportunities in construction will be present. It will even have a spillover effect on the nearby areas,” Lopez has said.