LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – “Make our home, your home.” In saying this, Governor Amado I. Espino, III urged hundreds of business executives and investors who attended the Asia CEO Forum held at Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City recently to choose Pangasinan, owing to the wide range of investment opportunities and tourist attractions the province offers.
“We can assure you that in Pangasinan, you will not only explore limitless investment opportunities but you will also be enthralled by over a hundred wonders,” Governor Espino, who led the Pangasinan delegation, told the local and foreign investors present during the event.
Governor Espino encouraged investors to take a serious look at five major investment areas of the province to include: agriculture (particularly on food and fish processing), tourism (especially on accommodation facilities, restaurants, terminals, pasalubong centers, recreation centers, theme parks, museums and farm tourism site); business process outsourcing; renewable energy; and ecozone development.
As such, the provincial chief executive bared that qualified enterprises to locate in the province shall enjoy fiscal incentives which are enshrined in the Pangasinan Investments and Incentives Code of 2016 (which amended the investment code of 2003) – one of the first provincial ordinances passed under ‘Pogi’ Espino’s administration.
Under the Code, investors shall avail the following: one year to five years full exemption from payment of Governor’s permit on business activities, full exemption from payment of annual fixed tax for every delivery of truck or van, and full exemption from the share of the province based on the payment of Basic Real Property Tax acquired or built purposely for the project.
As main presenter, Governor Espino likewise highlighted the gains of the province in agriculture, tourism, employment services and peace and order.
A six-minute audio visual presentation played right after Governor Espino’s speech gave the multinationals vivid images of the beauty and progress of Pangasinan.
Meanwhile, city mayors Arthur Celeste (Alaminos), Joseres Resuello (San Carlos), Amadeo Gregorio Perez IV (Urdaneta) and Belen Fernandez (Dagupan) along with municipal mayors Kim Amador (Manaoag), Simplicio Rosario (Binmaley), Michael Cruz (Umingan) and Eric Versoza (Dasol) pitched in their respective city’s / town’s potentials for businesses and investments.
Also joining the forum proper were President and Chief Executive Officer Rey Untal of IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines, Deputy Director-General for Operations Harriet Abordo of Philippine Economic Zone Authority and former Pangasinan Provincial Administrator Rafael Howard F. Baraan.
The province’s participation in the said forum was made possible via the invitation of Richard Mills and wife Rebecca Bustamante, an ASNA awardee of Pangasinan who hails from Dasol town.
By Dexter A. See
