Cebu’s Q2 investments up 29%, reach P17.7B

Happy Homes project in Mactan is investments in the second quarter of the year in Cebu. (Facebook grab)

4 mass housing and GMR Megawide’s transportation and storage projects make up investments

Five projects, four of them mass housing projects, contributed to the 29 percent growth of investments in the second quarter this year in Cebu to P17.7 billion from P13.7 billion in the same period last year.

Ellorence Cruz, BOI Cebu acting chief, said in an interview yesterday that they were expecting mass housing to dominate projects to be registered with the BOI this year, especially with the pronouncement of Vice President Leni Robredo to cut red tape in the housing sector.

“This will facilitate the application for BOI-registered housing projects. The Vice President’s pronouncements will fast track the process which will eventually lead to an influx of registrants,” Cruz said.

She also said that should there be more projects to be registered for the rest of the year, she hopes it will be spread outside of Cebu City.

Cruz, however, said that the bulk of the P17.7 billion would be attributed to the P16.8-billion transportation and storage project of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., the private operator of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

The four mass housing projects make up the rest of the second quarter investments which are worth P964.2 million, generating 463 jobs.

Two of these projects are located in Talisay City while the others are in the cities of Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.

These projects are Kennrich Development Corp.’s Villa Donna and Limbros Realty and Development Corp.’s Happy Homes in Talisay City and Lapu-Lapu City and Cebu Landmasters Inc.’s Casa Mira Towers 1 and 2 in Cebu City.

From January to March this year, registered investment pledges in Cebu was also valued at P7.7 billion.

Cruz said she remains optimistic the number of investments in Cebu will continue to increase throughout the year, given the upbeat ambience of the business community.

She said she hopes the energy brought about by the new administration would bring about positive developments.

Around P25.6 billion worth of investments were registered in Central Visayas last year, mostly in Cebu. This was up from P9.3 billion in 2014.

Manufacturing, agribusiness and fishery, services, economic and low-cost housing, hospital, energy, public infrastructure and logistics and public-private partnership projects are the eight preferred investment activities listed in the BOI’s Investments Priorities Plan 2014-2016.

The BOI, an attached office of the Department of Trade and Industry, is the government’s main investment arm that registers projects qualified for fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as tax holidays, duty-free importation of capital equipment, and employment of foreign nationals, among others.