[ Manila Bulletin Online ] January 23, 2009
By BEN D. ARCHE
DAVAO CITY — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) office here reported that this city got 68 percent of the total number of newly registered corporations in the country last year.
Javey Paul Francisco, SEC Davao director, said that of the 464 corporations registered last year throughout the country, 314 were registered in this city.
"We cannot determine how much is the value of investments of these corporations in Davao City because these may be operating somewhere else, but their primary office is in Davao," Francisco said during the Club 888 press forum at the Marco Polo Davao here.
SEC documents showed that last year, General Santos City has 36 new registered corporations; Tagum City – 18; South Cotabato and Koronadal City with nine each; Cotabato City – eight; Davao del Norte and Sultan Kudarat with seven each; Panabo City and Digos City with six each; Davao del Sur – five; Davao Oriental, Surigao Sur, and Mati City with four each; Cebu City and Agusan del Sur with three each; Makati City, Butuan City, Sarangani Province, Malaybalay City, Bislig City and Compostela Valley Province with two each; and Bohol, Parañaque, Pasig, Cagayan de Oro, Misayap, Surigao City, Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato and the Island Garden City of Samal with one newly registered corporation each during the period.
Francisco said the value of newly registered partnerships and corporations with SEC Davao in terms of paid-up capital has declined by 35 percent in 2008 as compared to the value in 2007.
In 2007, he said the value was placed at P350 million while only P215.4 million in 2008.
He added that the value of foreign direct investments registered with the SEC here also went down last year.
"The value of foreign direct investments in 2008 declined by 66 percent from P45.7 million in 2007 to P14.1 million as recorded in 2008," Francisco said.
He said the global financial turmoil both experienced by the United States and Europe has affected the investment climate here.
Francisco said that foreign nationalities listed as top investors last year include Korean, British, Canadian, Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, American, Swedish and others.
He said, however, that the Chinese topped all other nationalities that invested in the Philippines in 2008, followed by Korean and Dutch.
