GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/11 June) – The city government is pushing for the opening this year of direct flights from the city airport to Clark International Airport as it moves to expand trade linkages with the area in the next three years.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera said they engaged anew with the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and other stakeholders to expand their investment and business partnerships in an investment, trade and tourism mission from June 6 to 8.
Rehabilitation of the General Santos International Airport is expected to help boost the economy of Region 12. MindaNews file photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
He said the mission highlighted the city’s continuing push for the establishment of direct GenSan-Clark flights.
“This will promote the high influx of tourists and bring in more investments,” the mayor said in a report.
He said CDC, local government of Mabalacat and the Clark chamber of commerce have issued written endorsements for the opening of the air route.
The trade mission, which was assisted by the United States Agency for International Development’s Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity or Surge project, was an offshoot of the collaboration agreement signed by the city government with CDC in September last year.
Rivera said the initiative was aimed to further tighten linkages between the city and Clark “to help achieve mutual economic benefits.”
Leonard Flores, head of the City Economic Management and Cooperative Development Office, the city’s delegation embarked on a series of cooperation meetings with CDC and other stakeholders during the trade mission.
He said these include the Mabalacat city government, Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. the Clark Investors and Locators Association Inc. and the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA).
They also met with developers of the New Clark City, the 9,450-hectare planned modern metropolis being developed by BCDA, he said.
These resulted in the drafting of economic partnership and memorandums of understanding (MOU) CDC and Mabalacat City and the signing of economic partnership/MOU by the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. and South Cotabato Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. with the chambers of commerce of Pampanga and Metro Angeles Chamber, and the Clark Investors and Locators Association.
“(The meetings) went well. We got support and excited to see concrete results in one to three years.” Flores said. (MindaNews)
