Davao City—Malaysian investors are looking at Mindanao as area to grow their businesses by partnering with local companies.
Abu Bakar Yusof, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. (Matrade) senior director, said after the two-day trade mission here the 33 Malaysian companies that joined the event conducted 16 engagements with local counterparts for possible partnership.
“It is very clear that Davao (city) now is also promoting a lot of (investment) sectors; these sectors are also relevant to Malaysian companies who are here,“ said Yusof, adding he was impressed by the presentations, including the one by the Davao City Investment Promotion Center.
It is important for the Malaysian companies, he said, to “understand” the local economy and the investment landscape and the sectors that are being promoted “so that they can explore (the areas) to collaborate with the local governments, with the local business community.”
“We want our Malaysian investors to do things (the) right (way),” Yusof said.
He pointed out that Mindanao, in general, and the city is particular, are among the areas that Malaysian investors are looking to expand their footprints.
The Matrade-organized forum attracted 33 Malaysian companies and about 100 local firms, some of them from areas outside of Mindanao.
Siti Azlina Mohd Ali Hanafiah, Matrade Manila trade commissioner, said the goal of the trade mission was to provide Malaysian investors the avenue to look into the business opportunities in Mindanao.
Azlina said the forum also became the venue for Malaysian companies to introduce their innovative products that would help local companies.
“We would like to bring more innovate products from Malaysia,” she said, adding that the Malaysian business sector has been shifting itself to using new innovative solutions that would help local companies improve their productivity.
Yusof said local companies can tap the innovative solutions of Malaysian companies, six of those attending the event are in the information and communications technology sector, to improve their productivity.
In the case of the city, Malaysian ICT companies are looking at how to collaborate with the business process outsourcing industry in enhancing their operations even as they both noted that the local BPO sector is vibrant.
Azlina said the Malaysian ICT companies have started discussions with the local BPO industry on how they can complement each other.
Yusof added that the role of Matrade is to facilitate the exploration of business opportunities in other countries, in this case Davao and the rest of Mindanao, for them to get oriented of the investment climate and opportunities.
Some Malaysian investors, he said, are also looking at sourcing their raw materials in the city that they can add value to and sell these products in the world market.
Some companies, he added, may even opt to put up their processing plants if they think sustaining their operations locally will be achievable as they are looking at incentives that the local government units can provide them in case they decide to locate in any area in Mindanao.