Doing Bussiness in Bohol

Tagbilaran City, Friday, 12 April 2002

Table of Contents

• Why Bohol?
• About the Island
• Natural Resources
• Investment Opportunites
• Infrastructure
• Executive Brief
• Business Contacts
• Operating Costs of Doing Business
• Comparative Trade & Industry Economic Indicators

Why Bohol?

Location and Accessibility

In the heart of Asia lies the Philippines - now poised to take its place as an investment area in the region. And in the heart of this archipelago of 7,100 islands, the tenth largest island, Bohol, is ready to offer an investment climate that is advantageous for both foreign and domestic investors.

Bohol is located in the central part of the Philippines, which makes it easy to access from the both the capital city of Manila and the regional metropole Cebu and thus to potential markets. With a travel time of less than two hours by fast boat and about twenty minutes by plane, Bohol is easy to reach both by air and sea from nearby Cebu, which today is the industrial and commercial center of the Southern Philippines.

Certainly, Bohol is an alternative that gives you the right business climate, plus a healthy environment that provides a soothing haven to a busy lifestyle.

Quality Manpower

Bohol's primary asset is its people, with the distinctive quality traits of hospitality, dedication to work, industry and self-reliance. It has a highly trainable and strong labor force of about 686,000 and literacy rate is 95.57%, which makes up a dynamic manpower pool. The majority of the Boholanos can speak and write English.

Competitive Labor Cost

Bohol offers quality manpower at lower rates than to those of the metropolitan areas.

Wealth of Natural Resources & other Tourist Lures

Bohol has one of the best displays of natural resources that lure business and the more pleasurable adventures. It has an abundant water resource that remains to be tapped and agricultural areas that have great potential. Seek delight and experience pleasure in its best diving havens, rich marine resources and a variety of natural wonders. Discover Bohol's history in its landmark and imbibe a piece of its culture through festive celebrations and an array of cultural expressions.

Developing Infrastructure

Bohol is cognizant of the need to provide necessary infrastructure facilities for a growing population and the increasing demand of commerce and industry. To improve the services and efficiency of the utilities, the Provincial Government sought a joint venture project for both power and water with a private partner. The ongoing power interconnection project with Leyte is targeted to generate additional power supply of 80-100 MW of geothermal energy. The national highway that links the municipalities is being paved under the Bohol Circumferential Road Mega-Project that has increasingly provided efficient access and transport of people, goods and services. Meanwhile, large irrigation facilities are expected to irrigate an additional 10,260 hectares of ricelands.

Government & Private Sector Dynamism

In Bohol, synergy and participatory development processes have resulted to local governance initiatives and policies that give leverage to strategic investors and entice business to locate here.

About the Island

The Province

Bohol is the seat of an international treaty of peace and friendship between Datu Si Katuna, a native chieftain and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, a Spanish conquistador on March 16, 1565 through a blood compact known today as Sandugo. The province celebrates its foundation on July 22, 1854 as Bohol Day.

Vision

Bohol is a prime eco-cultural tourist destination and a strong agro-industrial province with an empowered and self-reliant people who are God-loving, law-abiding, proud of their cultural heritage and committed to the growth and protection of the environment.

Location & Topography

The tenth largest island in the country, it is nestled securely in the heart of the Visayas, between southeast of Cebu and southwest of Leyte. Its oval-shaped mainland, surrounded with 73 smaller islands, has a gently rolling terrain ideal for commercial and industrial site development.

Bohol's mountainous interior is home to rare and endangered flora and fauna. The uplands are fit for agro-forestry and high value agricultural production. The central and northern lowlands have also fertile grounds and abundant water supply.

Over a hundred caves have been identified, the biggest of which is found in the eastern part of the island, which makes Bohol ideal for spelunking adventures.

Typhoon and earthquakes are very rare.

Getting There

At the moment, Asian Spirit and Laoag Airlines serve the direct route to Manila daily. Development projects at the city airport, including the extension of the runway length, are expected to handle PAL B737s in December 2001.

There are 10 daily ship calls to Cebu, 7 being fast ferry trips. Daily passenger traffic is approximately 4,500.

Other regular destinations include Manila (4 times weekly), Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Dipolog, Iligan, Larena, Plaridel and Ozamis. Four other ports cater to Cebu and northern Mindanao routes.

Population

Bohol is the second most populous province in the region with 1,137,269 residents in 2000, representing 20% of the region's total (2000 NSO). Growth rate is 0.89% while the population density is 204 persons per square kilometer (1995 POPCEN).

Employment

Employment is predominately agriculture-led at 50%, followed by the service sector at 33% and industry at 17%. Approximately 93% of the labor force, or about 637,980, were employed in 2000.

Education and Language

The annual turnover of college graduates, approximately 3,800 a year, assures a reliable supply of highly trainable and dynamic manpower. Engineering course graduates comprise 20%.

A host of learning institutions, among the best in the region, includes one university, six colleges - four in agriculture and fishery, and six technical/vocational schools. Skills development centers are handled by TESDA in five towns.

Boholano is the native dialect, which is closely associated with the Cebuano dialect.

Natural Resources

Minerals

About half of the province is covered with limestone and other non-metallic minerals like high-grade silica, guano and clay. For instance, the limestone deposit in Garcia-Hernandez covers a 640 hectare-spread with 600 million tons available for processing by the Philippine Sinter Corporation.

Forest Products

Vines and fibers constitute Bohol's vegetation, which are sources of indigenous raw materials for its handicraft industry.

Water Resources

An abundant supply of surface water is provided by 434 springs, 59 rivers and 197 creeks provide abundant supply of surface water - a ready reservoir for a water development program.

Eco-Tourism

Bohol is gaining prestige as a prime eco-cultural tourist destination in the region.

Like the other islands in the region, Bohol has an abundance of pristine white sand beaches and azure blue waters. Coral reefs teem with a variety of picturesque marine life. Most notable of these sites and increasing in world renown are those found in Pamilacan, Balicasag, and Cabilao islands, now becoming havens for tourist and scuba divers.

Inland, serving as magnets for local and foreign tourists, are sights that are equally remarkable. These are Bohol's natural and cultural wonders. Some of these sites earned worldwide interest, such as: the 1,268 perfectly-coned haycock hills, more popularly known as the Chocolate Hills, hunched together with elevations of 40-120 meters high. There are the Baclayon Church, the best-preserved Jesuit-built church in the region; and the reclusive Philippine Tarsier, the world's smallest primate endemic only to Bohol and a protected species.

Gradually taking shape is the 2,000-hectare Panglao Island Tourism Estate (PITE) just off Tagbilaran City. Declared as a flagship project of the government, the PITE is one of the five tourist satellite destinations in the country where investments in hotel/resort complexes, convention facilities, sports/recreational facilities, golf courses, shopping centers, retirement and handicrafts village and marina are being promoted.

Agriculture and Aquaculture

Its agricultural area is estimated at 60% of the total land area, or about 256,400 hectares. With most of its land utilized for agriculture, the province is considered as a potential food granary of the Central Visayas region.

Coconut is grown in 63,500 hectares. Rice, the staple crop, is cultivated in 50,561 hectares, with irrigated ricelands comprising only about 32%, or 19,259.04 hectares. Corn, on the other hand, is grown in 19,347 hectares. Mango is an emerging product with 120,000 fruit-bearing trees and 180,000 more by the turn of the century. Mango harvest reached 422 metric tons in 1996. But Bohol is best known for its ubi kinampay, an aromatic purple yam.

Prawns are directly exported to Japan. Lobster, seaweeds and milkfish are likewise harvested. Seaweeds of the eucheuma variety are cultured and marketed to Cebu for processing into various grades of carageenan.

Special Economic Zone

The northeastern strip of Bohol which faces Cebu has been identified as viable areas for development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) as part of the Regional Growth Corridor (RGC). These SEZs shall enable the province to gain economic headway as an agro-industrial center in the region. Already, areas suitable for industrial sites have been consolidated to provide easy entry for investors.

Great opportunities exist for complementation between these SEZs and those found in the eastern coast of Cebu, such as the MEPZ I and II. Investment opportunities would be in the areas of agri-business, light manufacturing, and even eco-tourism.

Tagbilaran City serves as a major service center for various tourist packages in the province. Three major tourism circuits have been identified that offer diverse attractions to tourists and guests.

On top of all these, the Local Government Unit is providing a vibrant atmosphere for investments in Bohol. The Bohol Investment Code has been passed which establishes both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, and investment mechanisms that are investor-friendly. Special assistance services will also be extended in the ecozones.

The Bohol Investment Promotion Center has been set up to cater to investors' needs.

Investment Opportunities

Infrastructure

Telecommunications

Bohol is wired with the rest of the world through the state-of-the-art telephone facilities that provide domestic and international linkages through the service providers PLDT, Cruztelco and Islacom. Cellular phone firms have also established entry in the province. Internet access is available with the three service providers now in Tagbilaran City.

Access to telecommunications can be made easily in the towns through the 138 public calling stations. Forty-three payphone stations are conveniently located in strategic places and major commercial centers in the city.

A project of Islacom involves the installation of province-wide landline connection, increasing the number of lines from 2,000 to 13,000.

Seaports

The Tagbilaran City wharf has fine port facilities, such as: 265.8 m of berth length and 2 dedicated berths for fast boats; two roro ramps; 18,000 m² storage area; average cargo handling capacity of 49,000 tons accommodating 10-20 footer vans; container traffic of 5,142 TEUs, and 300 m² transit shed.

A port expansion project in Tagbilaran City costing 85 million pesos is being pursued for the construction of additional berthing space for fast craft ferries.

Power

The province is fully energized by the National Power Corporation. The actual generation capability of 54.2 megawatts is supported by the following facilities:

The 21 billion-peso Leyte-Bohol interconnection will bring geothermal power of higher capacity base of 80-100 megawatts. Power rates are then expected to be very competitive.

Industries with power requirements of at least 100 kilowatts can apply for direct interconnection with NPC.

Water

Water supply is made available in Tagbilaran City and in the nearby municipalities on a 24-hour basis with the completion of the Tagbilaran Water Supply Project. Thirty-two deep wells with submersible pumps operate at a daily capacity of 19,000 cubic meters.

Several water projects are in the pipeline to respond to water requirements for both domestic and industrial use. The Central Visayas Water and Sanitation Project and the construction of Level III water systems have made water available in 16 other municipalities. Likewise, the development of Ujan Spring in Cortes with a daily capacity of 3,500 cubic meters and Loboc River are currently being pushed.

Road System

The road network is well developed, facilitating access to all barangays. The 2.6 billion-peso Bohol Circumferential Road Project, covering a total of 589 kilometers along the national highway, will improve the road network. Phase I of the project, which links about half of the province from Calape to Candijay, has been completed.

Amenities

Bohol has adequate accommodation facilities to offer to tourists and investors alike. In place are seven hotels, 36 lodging/pension houses, and 31 beach resorts. There are slightly over one thousand rooms of varying standards.

Other tourist facilities are nine diving shops, nine sports centers, eleven high-end diving resorts and 16 centers for shopping and recreation. There are nine establishments that can cater to conventions.

Likewise, a strong and enthusiastic banking sector has enabled the province to be at par with the rest of the urban centers in the country. There are 45 banking units providing modern banking facilities.

Executive Brief

^a According to the NSO census of 2000.
^b The smallest political subdivision, a neighborhood.
^c 1994 FLEMMS.

Operating Costs of Doing Business

Minumum Wage Rates

Electric Power

Water

Real Estate

Rent

Telephone

Airfreight

Shipping Freight

Social Security & Medicare

For employed members

Cost of Living

1994 data

Business Contacts

Bohol Investment Promotion Center (BIPC)
Office of the Governor, Capitol Compound, Tagbilaran City
Phone (63-38) 411-4559, 501-9676
Email: boholipc@mozcom.com
Web Site: www.bohol.gov.ph

Department of Trade and Industry
Bohol Provincial Office
2nd Floor, FCB Building, C.P.G. North Avenue, Tagbilaran City
Phone (63-38) 411-3302, 411-3533
Telefax (63-38) 411-3236
Email: dtibohol@bohol-online.com

Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry
4th Floor, FCB Building, C.P.G. North Avenue, Tagbilaran City
Telefax (63-38) 411-5910

Small and Medium Enterprise Development Center (SMED)
c/o DTI Office
2nd Floor, FCB Building, C.P.G. North Avenue, Tagbilaran City
Phone (63-38) 411-3302, 411-3533
Telefax (63-38) 4113236
Email: maverick@mozcom.com

Tagbilaran City Government
City Hall Compound, Tagbilaran City
Phone (63-38) 411-3130; 411-3715; 411-3720
Fax (63-38) 411-4405

Comparative Trade & Industry Economic Indicators

BIPC

What readers think...

Read all 159 comments by readers.

Also give your comments on this article

We reserve the right to remove or edit comments posted on this website. Please read our conditions of use for details. You can use <i>italics</i>, <b>bold</b>, <p> new paragraph, <a href="url">link</a>. Other markup will be removed. Use of the forums for advertising is prohibited. Enterprises located in Bohol can request to be added to the business directory.

This article has been viewed 62 times.