Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 13 No. 4 - Geographics

Cotabato Catches On

With increasing investor confidence, things are starting to look up for Cotabato City

Students check the latest trend in fashion inside South Seas, Cotabato City’s first and only mall

A long stretch of vehicles is inching its way across Quirino Bridge to enter Cotabato City, one of the oldest cities in Southern Philippines. A handful of uniformed men are conducting meticulous searches of every vehicle crossing the bridge, giving the casual visitor the impression that the city is still battling social and political unrest.

Those who are more familiar with the city, however, see a different, more positive picture. On an ordinary day, the city looks busy and vibrant, with its people engaged in a range of activities that suggest a robust economy: vendors selling local delicacies; construction workers applying brightly colored paint to a building’s façade; and office workers dressed in business attire walking hurriedly along pedestrian lanes. Cotabato City, once known as the “empire province” of Mindanao, is slowly shedding its negative image and its 165,000 residents are becoming more bullish about changing the business landscape of their town.

New Landmark

Strolling the length of Don Rufino Alonzo Street, it is obvious that Cotabato is undergoing a major facelift. A huge, imposing structure, painted mint green and boldly adorned with a splash of fuchsia now dominates part of the area, dwarfing the smaller buildings beside it. The new landmark houses South Seas, the city’s first and only mall and local counterpart of Davao’s Gaisano or General Santos’s KCC.

Inside South Seas, a fountain decorated with artificial coconut trees cheerfully welcomes shoppers. On a Thursday, at 11 a.m., the mall is surprisingly full of people. Students and young professionals troop to a store that carries a popular local brand of apparel and check the window display of trendy tops and jeans. Restaurants of various fast-food chains fill with office workers, students, and women garbed in traditional Muslim attire, with children of varying ages in tow. Everyone seems to be in a mood to shop or dine.
Unknown to most of these shoppers, immediately behind the mall, construction workers are busy erecting another emporium. The store, put up by a Davao-based enterprise, will cater to a distinct clientele, offering expensive bathroom fixtures, hard-to-find cutlery, and other expensive accoutrements.

Attracting Interest

The Department of Trade and Industry’s local office reports that business name registration increased almost 20% in 2005, corroborating the casual impression of economic growth. “From a government officer’s viewpoint, this means a confidence build-up in the private sector and the key business people here,” states Danilo Buenbrazo, officer-in-charge of the DTI-Cotabato office. He explains that over a seven-year period, business name registration posted its highest growth in 2005, with 52 new businesses applying for official status. “This may not be the grandest of accomplishments, but it reflects the city’s positive business climate,” he adds.

The signs of growth in investor confidence may be modest to date, but there is no doubt that progress is being achieved. “Outside investors are starting to look at Cotabato as a possible area for expansion,” states Buenbrazo on the establishment of the high-end hardware center. “Two or three years ago, they never showed that kind of interest in us. When the mall opened, some investors started to inquire about how to do business here in Cotabato,” he adds.

Coincidentally, the city’s moribund nightlife has reawakened at the same time that a number of Manila-based food chains opened outlets here. Along Sinsuat Avenue, a stretch dominated by hospitals, restaurants, pharmacies, and small inns, some night owls have started to hang out at Avenue Grill, a new restaurant and bar. It has become a spot for young people to chat over bottles of beer, as acoustic music plays. To its left, Ozone provides an alternative venue for those who prefer to hit the dance floor.
“This may look too simple for someone who’s been to Malate or Makati, but we’re already glad that we have this. It suits our needs,” says a frequent customer of Avenue Grill who introduced himself as Ali. “Who knows, a year from now, someone might just put up more establishments of this kind,” he adds.

Avenue Grill is one of the new nightspots in Cotabato City where one can dine and unwind

Change from Within

Be it a mall, a hardware specialty store, a food chain, a newly painted building, or a watering hole, these establishments are changing the landscape of Cotabato. The locals have realized, however, that sustaining the momentum of business growth will depend to a large extent on business people who reside in the city. “Change must come from us. Who else will alter this negative image but our own people?” states Pete Marquez, president of the Metro Cotabato Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation.

Marquez, a balikbayan who worked as a real estate broker in the U.S., calls this a “paradigm shift,” requiring Cotabato residents not to dwell on negative issues but to focus instead on the strengths of the city. “Residents, as I have observed, are now more aware of the need to keep up with neighboring cities in Mindanao,” he adds. “Cotabato cannot just allow itself to be left behind.”

Currently, Marquez’s office is working closely with the DTI, the local government, the USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, and a number of development organizations to improve the investment potential of the city.

Cotabato City residents are becoming more bullish about changing the business landscape of their town

In December 2005, the local business chamber together with the DTI and GEM organized the 4th Cotabato City Business Forum, which focused on improving the city’s business licensing process and enhancing the city’s tourism potential. Earlier, a seminar was also held to update chamber members on trends in franchising and to identify franchise opportunities in the region. “Last year showed a positive business momentum, and we must sustain this so that investors become more confident in doing business here. We must seize the moment,” Marquez stresses.

Marquez is also banking on the imminent signing of a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. “With a peace agreement in the offing and with the increasing awareness of the people that the economic climate must continue to change, Cotabato may soon be seeing better days,” says Marquez.

Contributed by the Growth with Equity in Mindanao Program, a USAID-funded program implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council. For more information on the GEM Program, visit www.mindanao.org