Mandaue offers investors perks

By Mia A. Aznar

Sunday, December 18, 2011

FOREIGN investors enjoy several perks if they make substantial investments in Mandaue City, its city administrator said.

In a recent forum with the local business community and Iraqi officials, City Administrator James Abadia announced that foreign investors enjoy tax breaks in payment of business and real property taxes.

He said that those who invest $200,000 to $1 million will enjoy 25 percent off on business taxes and another 25 percent off on real property taxes for three years.

If the investment is between $1 million and $4 million, they get 35 percent off for seven years. Investments of over $4 million are given 50 percent off for seven years.

In return, investors have to be sure that 75 percent of their workers are residents of
Mandaue City.

Making it easy

Abadia said these incentives are on top of the perks that national governments offer to foreign investors.

He explained that it is the City’s goal to make it easy to do business, which is why the City’s Trade and Investment Code has been amended several times to adjust to the needs of the business environment.

“We also have low tax rates compared with other cities,” he assured.

He said that they give tax breaks to those who can put up businesses that are labor generating, opened in less developed areas, use local raw materials in manufacturing, promote tourism, are pioneering industries and those that involve water and power.

Abadia told those present that there is a high investor confidence in Mandaue, as shown by their strong relationship with the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He also said that it is easy to renew and apply for business licenses, as they have reduced the process to three steps.

In renewing licenses, he said they offer advanced assessments during the last quarter of the year so that the business owner only has to pay the amount during the next year without having to wait for personnel from the City to determine how much in taxes they have to pay.

He also revealed that they went a few steps further by building a virtual private network connecting the barangays to their system. He said barangays can now issue cedulas and it will be recorded in their system.

Aside from heading to city hall, he said they also set-up business one-stop shops at Parkmall and Bridges Town Square for easy access.

Abadia said that investors will enjoy a skilled workforce, a good location at the center of Cebu, a relatively calm peace and order situation and a “rosy” political landscape. “It is the best time to invest in Mandaue.”

Center of business

He further said that Mandaue has always been a center for business, starting with big plants like San Miguel and Eveready in the late ‘60’s and a “furniture boom” in the ‘80’s and early ‘90’s.

These days, he boasted that Mandaue has seen a boom in construction, with six commercial establishments opening in the last quarter. These include J Centre Mall, a hotel and two SM Savemore markets. He revealed that the Colonnade Mall and Gaisano Grand Mandaue City are expected to open soon.

Abadia added that they exceeded their target collection for business taxes. The target was set at P175 million, a bit higher than the 2010, collection. However, the City has been able to collect 266 million.

Citing their records, a total of 9,704 businesses are registered in Mandaue City and 1,092 of these were new businesses, as of October.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on December 19, 2011.