BARMM approves P475-M investments for 2023

COTABATO CITY  -- The Bangsamoro Board of Investments in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BBOI-BARMM) today announced it approved the registration of three projects with a total investment worth P475 million to kick off this year’s BARMM investment generation.

BBOI-BARMM Chairperson Mohamad Omar Pasigan named the new investment projects as the “Beauty of Life Beach Resort,” “KS Agricultural Products Trading” and “Shahada Medical and Diagnostic Clinic.”

The Beauty of Life Beach Resort is a tourism-related facilities and attraction and is a 100 percent Filipino-owned and a sole proprietorship company located at Barangay Kusiong, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

Pasigan said the resort’s total projected cost is PHP295 and will province automatic employment for 44 job seekrs.

“The beach resort is the first ever of its kind to register in the region. It is an avenue for tourists and BARMM guests to experience the vastness of water. The resort has great facilities and modern amenities,” Pasigan said in a statement Monday (Jan. 23).

“Hopefully, other beach resorts will follow and that will provide a much needed boost to help sustain many tourism destinations and businesses in the region and will continue to be a key driver of recovery especially that the Covid-19 pandemic hits the tourism economy hard,” he added.

He said the second investor, the KS Agricultural Products Trading, is also a 100 percent Filipino-owned and a sole proprietorship company engaged in halal poultry production and processing.

It is located at Barangay Kamasi, Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

The company’s total project cost is about PHP149 million and will provide employment to about 150 local employees.

Pasigan said the proponent is a halal producer of poultry broilers – growing for slaughtering and marketing.

It has a halal poultry dressing plant for dressing, processing and marketing, a halal feed mill for the production of corn, palay, copra and malunggay to be processed into formulated halal feed concentrate in the form of mash, pellets and crumble feeds for commercial use.

“The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) is promoting the halal industry in the region. And we are very happy that we now have halal poultry in the region,” MAFAR Minister and Ex-Officio Board Member Mohammad S. Yacob said.

“The BARMM government will strengthen regulations on halal certification for products in the region especially where the majority of the population is Muslim,” said Minister Yacob, also BBOI board member.

The Shahada Medical and Diagnostic Clinic is the first medical facility to register in the region. It is a medical and diagnostic center and is a 100 percent Filipino-owned company located at Sousa Street, Rosary Heights 13, Cotabato City.

It has a total project cost of Php30.7 million and will generate 20 employments. The clinic is an avenue for health professionals with sub-specialties that facilitate the provision of timely, cost-effective, and high-quality diagnostic care for patients in a safe and secure environment.

Minister Abuamri Taddik of BARMM Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism, and BBOI board member, said the private health sector is growing rapidly and this newly-health facility in the region is a good implication that investments are pouring in.

“This trend will continue due to the fundamentals that drive demand – population growth, increasing life expectancy, growing disease burdens, and patients’ demands for treatment,” Minister Taddik said.

“Given the increasing demand for health services, private sectors should consider entering the health care market,” he added.

The BBOI is kicking off 2023 with a number of investments already lined-up for approval, targeting about P2 billion this year.

“We will continue to invite potential investors - local, national and international in the Bangsamoro region with our aim to boost our economy,” said newly appointed Board Member Datu Habib S. Ambolodto.