The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM) Regional Board of Investments (RBOI) continues to lure more private projects amid concerns on the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) within the near term.
On Monday, July 20, the RBOI Board of Governors, in a joint meeting with the members of the Management Committee in Davao City, approved the registration of DS3 Fuel Tanking and Services Inc., a P252-million petroleum project located in Polloc Free Port, Parang, Maguindanao.
The project is the fourth registered by the agency this year after Chan C. Mining Inc., Lamsan Power, and Tawi-Tawian Petroleum Trading. As of date, ARMM has recorded P1.8 billion in total investments for 2015.
The DS3 Fuel Tanking and Services Inc. is engaged in providing storage facilities, marketing and distribution of petroleum products. The company will be involved in the construction and operation of oil depots with total capacity of 23 million liters per annum.
Lawyer Ishak Mastura, RBOI chairman, said the “DS3 is the first foreign investor to invest in the downstream oil industry in the region highlighting business confidence among foreign investors in the region even as the BBL is still being debated in Congress.”
He added that “(DS3) is a strategic investment because it can provide common service facilities for the different oil distribution industry players in the region and the presence of an oil depot and oil storage facilities can possibly reduce the retail price of oil products in the region.”
Registered firms in the ARMM have recently expressed fear that a diluted BBL may curtail convenience of getting their permits, licenses, approvals, administrative consents and regulatory framework directly from the autonomous regional government. (Bureau of Public Information)
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