Palawan is Looking for Assistance from the Private Sector

Palawan, is seeking P25 billion worth of investments from the private sector over the next 10 years as it hopes to equal the progress of Cebu and Davao and at the same time triple its tourist arrivals.

“The government of Palawan is launching an aggressive campaign to promote investments in the province. We believe the only way to address poverty is by inviting companies to set up businesses in the province to be able to generate employment and income opportunities for the Palawenos,” Palawan Gov. Jose Chaves Alvarez said in a briefing yesterday.

To become a world-class destination, Palawan Gov. Jose Chaves Alvarez said that Palawan is looking to tap the help of international and local companies.

“The province of Palawan needs to catch up with Northern Mindanao and Central Visayas. We are left behind by almost 30 years but we intend to catch up in the next 10 years whatever progress we have in Northern Mindanao, which is Cagayan de Oro and Davao, and the bustling city of Cebu,”

“By the time I assumed office in 2013 to June this year, a total of P2.3 billion in private investments have been poured in the province but this is not enough. We need to generate more investments in order to fasttrack our economic development,” Alvarez added.

Alvarez said that at least P25 billion worth of investment is needed to improve the infrastructures of the province.

Alvarez also said that the tourist influx is expected to generate P100 billion in revenues for Palawan.

Palawan is currently spending P2.3 billion to improve the province’s water system, P2.7 billion for road construction and maintenance, and about P1 billion to put up 15 new hospitals.

Palawan is also collaborating with the Department of Tourism, University of Asia and the Pacific, and the United States Agency for International Development to showcase the province to local and foreign investors through an investment forum and a travel and trade expo.

The campaign is headed by Governor Jose Alvarez who has cited fine words:

Visit Palawan, and appreciate what it can offer you as an investment milieu for your venture enterprises. Perhaps this is the only place you need to look in.

In other words, the private sector can propose, and then the government will find reasons not to oppose.