Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) executive officer Frank Carbon is urging the business sector to reinvest as he expressed optimism in the region’s economic recovery.
Carbon echoed the statement by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Negros Occidental chief Commander Ludovico Librilla on the increasing number of passengers and cargoes crossing daily between Iloilo City and Bacolod City.
He also cited the recent launch of the Batangas-Iloilo-Bacolod route of a shipping vessel which now offers another connection between Western Visayas with the CALABARZON region (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon provinces).
Carbon further said that Vannamei or white shrimp producers are investing to expand their aquaculture areas with the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology.
He also said power plant companies are now seriously considering Western Visayas for their investment expansions.
The recent reopening of Magikland Theme Park in Silay City, Negros Occidental “will hopefully attract visitors not just from Iloilo City, but from other provinces,” he added.
Carbon also revealed that MBCCI is currently discussing with the Development Bank of the Philippines and Landbank of the Philippines ways to finance the economic recovery initiatives of the private sector in Western Visayas.
“Open up your business, reinvest, and start generating more jobs and livelihood.”
Earlier, Carbon attributed the decline in the cases of the corona virus disease 2019 or COVID-19 in the city of Bacolod to the establishment of the Emergency Operations Center.
COVID cases, which hit an average 100 cases per day in mid-September has notably gone down to an average of 25-30 this month, data from the Public Information Office of Bacolod showed. (Dolly Yasa via The Daily Guardian (TDG), photo courtesy by TDG)