MANKAYAN, Benguet – The municipal government announced it welcomes interested investors who want to establish different businesses, especially accommodation and convention facilities, in the different parts of the municipality to help in generating employment opportunities for qualified residents, increase economic activities and provide sustainable sources of livelihood.
Mayor Frenzel Ayong said the municipality will maximize its potentials to sustain its growth and development in partnership with interested investors, aside from pursuing the development thrusts of the municipal government to ensure sustainable economic activities in the different parts of the locality.
“We have to aggressively pursue our partnerships with interested investors to achieve the level of development that will sustain our desired growth without sacrificing the state of our environment and existing sources of livelihood of our people,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
He disclosed that what the municipality urgently needs are investors that could put up accommodation and convention facilities due to the rapidly increasing requests from government and the private sectors for such amenities for them to hold their small and big gatherings in the municipality which is strategically located between the Cordillera and the Ilocos regions.
The municipal chief executive asserted the municipal government needs also to venture on self-liquidating investments where the finance department, government and commercial banks have signified their intention to provide the municipality with its financial requirements for the realization of its desired accommodation and convention facilities that will make Mankayan the convention capital north of the Cordillera.
According to him, the influx of foreign and domestic tourists to the different destinations in the different parts of the Cordillera has opened the opportunities for other local governments like Mankayan to make the necessary projections to also allow the tourists to visit the different scenic destinations prior to reaching their desired destinations in Sagada, Mountain Province and Banaue, Ifugao, two of the prime tourist destinations in the Cordillera.
By having available accommodation and convention facilities, Mayor Ayong underscored tourists will be encouraged to spend a day or two in northern Benguet where there are already emerging tourist destinations before pursuing their travel to their other destinations thus contributing in the economic activities in the municipality aside from providing sources of livelihood for people involved in the tourism and agriculture industries around the municipality.
He explained that maximizing the growth potentials of the town’s agriculture and tourism industry is part of the municipal government’s thrusts to prepare the municipality for the eventual closure of the operation of large-scale mining companies and allow the said sectors to be the major economic drivers considering the growing concern to help preserve and protect the state of the environment in the municipality.
By HENT
Banner art by Don Ray Ramos
