THE BOARD of Investments (BoI) on Friday proposed to include the city of Marawi and the surrounding towns to be included in the list of the country’s less developed areas (LDA) to speed up its economic recovery after bearing the brunt of a five-month firefight between the Maute group and the military.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) investment promotions arm said in a statement that the inclusion of the war-torn city will assure that it will become a priority area for investments and employment for internally-displaced persons.

“Listing these areas as LDAs will encourage more investors, both local and foreign, to seriously look into investment opportunities in the said areas,” BoI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said.

Places included in an LDA will mean that the investments will be entitled to maximum incentives under the Omnibus Investments Code.

There are currently 134 cities and municipalities included in the LDA list. DTI data showed that from November 2013 to October 2017, the BoI approved 92 projects worth P141.36 billion, most of which are in the power sector, followed by transportation and storage, manufacturing and mass housing projects.

At full operation, the investments generated an estimated 12,622 jobs. — AGAM

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