BCDA, Clark business groups sign investment promotion deals

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said it has forged agreements with business organizations in the Metro Clark area for investment studies and promotions, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

The state-run firm said in a statement on Tuesday that it signed two separate memoranda of understanding (MOU) last June 8 with the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (MACCII) and the Pampanga Business Development Coordinating Council (PBDCC).

Under the MOUs, BCDA said both MACCII and PBDCC agreed to share knowledge and information on investment opportunities, incentives, facilities and development projects within BCDA properties, especially New Clark City, to enable effective promotion to potential investors.

Moreover, both groups committed to organize joint workshops, seminars, and networking events with BCDA to promote knowledge-sharing, business-matching, and exploration of “potential ventures.”

For MACCII, it agreed to use its network and resources to promote investment opportunities inside BCDA properties to local and foreign investors.

“It vowed to represent the interests of the business community in Angeles City and Central Luzon, advocating for policies and initiatives that promote economic growth, investment, and business development in the region, and providing inputs and recommendations to BCDA and other government agencies on matters affecting the business sector,” said the state-run firm.

Meanwhile, PBDCC, an umbrella of 10 business organizations and two universities, also signed to establish and operate a business incubation facility in New Clark City even as it committed to conduct market research and studies on identified projects, said BCDA.

BCDA, for its part, has agreed to “share knowledge and information on urban planning, infrastructure development, and management of economic zones.”

In addition, the state-run firm will collaborate with both groups in all investment promotion events and activities, market research, and conduct of feasibility studies.

The BCDA said it has agreed to conduct regular consultations with the groups to keep them informed of BCDA’s development projects and to gather valuable business inputs from them.

BCDA Vice President for Investment Promotions and Marketing Erwin Kenneth R. Peralta said the partnership with the business sector is part of BCDA’s commitment to “inclusive” development and sustainability.

“We are very conscious of BCDA’s role and mandate. It is part of our commitment to make sure that the BCDA communities are equally developed and the people are involved. We are not only after the sustainability of urban spaces, but more, we aim for human sustainability,” Peralta said.

BCDA was created under Republic Act 7227 to carry out the declared policy of the government to accelerate the “sound and balanced” conversion into alternative productive civilian uses of the Clark and Subic military reservations and their extensions, and to enhance the benefits to be derived from said properties in order to promote the economic and social development of Central Luzon and the country in general.