Cultural heritage fuels Naga City’s economy

After seeing the potential of their “Pastores” during the provincial government’s  “Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo Southern Heritage Trail,” Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong believes the city can move forward economically through establishing and realizing its roots.

Thus, during this holiday season, Naga City will be staging a Pastores de Naga Christmas festivity, which according to Chiong is part of their vision to promote cultural and historical review of Naga.

“We always welcome investors with open hands and take care of them,” Mayor Chiong stated during the press conference of “Pastores de Naga” in SM.

In his first term of office, the Mayor envisions to be able to put up a new city market, a new city hall, new community college and a new cemetery for “Naganhons.”

“I ensure to implement projects which will be very essential to the lives of my people and will be beneficial to them,” the Mayor expressed.

According to Chiong various investors coming from different industries have expressed interest in investing in the city like Bounty Fresh which had outlaid plans of building a chicken dressing plant, Thunder Bird feeds which has been reported to have already acquired of a lot for its plant, and the Salcon Kepco power plant which is still an on-going project. 

“Salcon Kepco will definitely push through with their operations in the city although we are still uncertain about their exact operation date,” reported Chiong.

The coming in of these investors according to Chiong will be profitable for the city of Naga not only in terms of job generation but also in terms of revenue from their tax collection.

As estimated by Chiong, the projected property tax that Naga is bound to collect from Salcon Kepco alone will generate to about P30 million for a year, and this is 2% of the P15 billion total amount of the power plant.

With regards to the city’s SME Industrial Park which has been opened last July of this year through the efforts of Planters Development Bank, Mayor Chiong said that the eight signified locators will start establishing their businesses next year.

Chiong has also delegated a task finance committee that will formulate incentives for investors who will get 70-80% of their total manpower from the local workforce. But this move according to the Mayor will still be subjected for further developments as they will also consider the labor needs and requirements of each locator.

Mayor Chiong urged interested investors that this year and the coming years will be a perfect opportunity to invest in Naga as the city has been mandated by its charter not to increase its taxes for a span of five years.

As of the moment, Naga City is receiving an ERA worth of P70 million and Mayor Chiong is optimistic that this amount will increase to a projected amount of 180 million next year after the municipality officially became a city this year. – Rhia de Pablo