DAVAO CITY – The Davao region will see more investments in 2023 following efforts to expedite recovery from the impact of the pandemic that has crippled the local economy in the past two years, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)-Davao said.

In her report on the Davao region’s 2022 Socioeconomic Performance and Development Outlook for 2023, NEDA-Davao director Maria Lourdes Lim said increased investments are expected just as global, national, and local economies exert more efforts to reverse the impact of the pandemic.

Lim said the declaration of the Davao region as a Tourism and Investment-Ready Destination, efforts to position the region as an international logistics hub, and current program of the government to strengthen local public-private partnerships would help attract investments. “This would facilitate even more investments in Davao region,” she said.

She said that Board of Investments (BOI)-registered Filipino and foreign investments reached P6.2 billion in the first three quarters of 2022 from P2.4 billion in the same period last year.

Lim added that these new projects were registered in industries, electricity and gas, steel, and airconditioning supply; administrative and support service activities; manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; transportation and storage; and real estate activities.

She said they are located in Gov. Generoso and Mati, Davao Oriental; Santo Tomas, Carmen, and Panabo City in Davao del Norte; and Santa Cruz and Davao City in Davao del Sur.

Lim said that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are expected to “fully recover and thrive” amid efforts of the government to prioritize this sector in recognition of their contributions to “post-pandemic economic regeneration, job creation, and poverty reduction.”

She said that MSMEs assisted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in terms of loan facilitation increased by 39 percent in 2022 from 596 in the first three quarters of last year to 827 as of the third quarter this year.