DAVAO CITY — Business is buoyant in Davao City, based on the number of commercial entities registered with the business bureau.

According to Lemuel Ortonio, officer-in-charge at the Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC), some 40,000 registrants have been tallied so far as of the 3rd quarter of 2018.

“It is not complete because we are still waiting for figures for the last quarter of 2018. The business bureau is currently busy completing business permit renewals and hopefully we will get the final figure by the end of February, probably,” Ortonio said.

Ortonio said the DCIPC conducted several investment promotion activities last year and hopes to sustain the momentum in terms of investment and tourism activities in the city.

The DCIPC earlier revisited the city’s Investment Incentive Code (IIC) as part of the larger program to attract more investors. It previously partnered with Isla Lipana, the local arm of the auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and will present the results before the Davao investment incentive board this month.

The audit report will determine “whether sufficient investments in an area or activity have been attained; determine whether continued extension of incentives or support measures for the specific investment area is no longer in the interest of the city (and) identify types of projects that are suitable for possible incentive availment” down the line.

Ortonio said the consultation with different industries and chambers began toward the last quarter of 2018.

He would not share specific information but said certain sectors are in focus in the review such as the agri-business and livestock livelihood and agriculture development program.”

Tourism and leisure are also part of the areas of inquiry conducted jointly with the partners.

There have been discussions on extending so-called non-fiscal incentives as well, he said.