Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan. Photo by mmda.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines — The Caloocan City government has revealed ambitious plans to lure back businesses in the city.
In a statement, Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan said that the city government has been looking to build two central business districts in line with its drive to attract more investments in the city.
“Our City Planning Office is studying the possibility of establishing central business districts along 5th Avenue and in Congressional Road,” he said.
The two sites were chosen strategically to bring in investment in the two districts of the city: Caloocan City proper and Caloocan North, respectively.
“We chose these sites and we want to do this so we can ride on and share in the growth and progress of the Fairview District in Quezon City,” Malapitan added.
Malapitan said that this would be just one of the plans the city has been drafting to bring back investments and businesses in the city.
Other initiatives include offering incentives to businesses and a pledge to nurture the growth of business and investment in the city.
In an apparent swipe at the previous administration of the city, Malapitan noted that “there have been many businessmen who closed shop in the city” in the past 10 years.
He then cited figures showing that despite being one of the largest cities in Metro Manila, Caloocan only had 11,000 businesses registered in the city, compared to 13,000 in Valenzuela, 250,000 in Quezon City, and 500,000 in the City of Manila.
“We want to run after the businessmen who left, give them assistance and genuinely care about their progress,” he said.