By Chino S. Leyco Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the spate of infrastructure investments in the Davao region as part of the government’s infrastructure program will catalyze its growth potential and transform the city into a center for manufacturing and agro-industry in the South. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. (Bloomberg) Dominguez said Davao’s business leaders, in turn, should anticipate these positive developments by harnessing the power of new digital technologies to improve enterprise efficiency and converting the opportunities available to them into wealth and more jobs for the people. “Be assured that your government stands squarely behind you. But we can only assist. It is for you to convert opportunities into created wealth. It is for you to do the innovation required for new businesses to prosper. It is for you to catalyze risk into profit,” Dominguez said. The finance chief said Davao’s entrepreneurs should “be the businessmen of the first caliber” who are capable of seizing the many opportunities opened to them by the Duterte administration’s various reform initiatives. Describing Davao City as “the hottest spot in the nation’s bright economic prospects,” Dominguez said the area and the rest of Davao have long been gearing for rapid growth, driven not only by the fact that President Duterte hails from the region. “The forthcoming infrastructure investments will catalyze the region’s growth potential. It will make the city a center for manufacturing and agro-industry,” Dominguez said. “Massive investments in property development have already begun, anticipating broad-based and sustained growth far into the future.” Dominguez said among the road infrastructure projects already benefiting the people of Davao are the Miranda Bridge II at the Daang Maharlika in Davao del Norte, which now serves as the main access of motorists from Davao City going to other parts of the Davao Region. He also mentioned the the Davao River Bridge, which was completed in April this year.