An officer of the Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation (ITPI Corp
) and a Filipino entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the country’s likely but unsung equivalent of Andrew Carnegie was recently invited to the ‘limited-seats-only’ Batangas City investment forum
Dr
Jose P
Leviste, Jr
PhD, ITPI’s non-executive chairman was invited to attend the one-day business forum dubbed “Let’s Talk Business: Invest in Batangas City,” which will be held tomorrow, Dec
11 at the InterContinental Hotel Manila in Makati City
Aside from Dr
Leviste, other ITPI officers and partners will be attending the forum, including Executive Chairman and CEO Architect Romolo V
Nati, President Atty
Jojo Leviste and Lorenz Ziller, Chairman of Multiplata Investment Group, an ITPI sales partner
Organized by the local government and business sector of Batangas City with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the forum aims to attract foreign and local investors to explore infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, industry and manufacturing investment opportunities in the city
During the forum, Center for Research and Communication Director Dr
Bernardo M
Villegas will present “The Big Picture: Philippine Economic Performance and Growth Potentials of Batangas City
”
Batangas City — a growing trade hub
Known as the industrial port city of the Calabarzon region, Batangas City is one of the fastest urbanizing cities in the country with an average annual growth rate of 2
13 percent
Situated one-and-a-half hours south of Metro Manila, Batangas City’s competitive advantage also lies in its
- Strategic location and an international port that provides fast and efficient cargo handling and passenger travel, making Batangas a major gateway to the country’s nautical highway
- Easy access to Metro Manila and the Calabarzon region
- Extensive industrial infrastructure that includes the country’s first power plants using natural gas
- Pool of rich human resources, being the educational center in the province of Batangas
- Solid commitment of local government and business groups to broad-based and inclusive economic growth
- Historical and cultural attractions that include ancestral houses, religious landmarks, museums and festivals
Batangas is also classified as a regional agro-industrial center under the country’s Regional Development Plan, 2011-2016 and special economic zone under the Ecozone Act of 1995
It is a USAID partner city under the Cities Development Initiative (CDI) which aims to empower secondary cities as engines of growth
ITPI, Leviste
ITPI recently announced to the media plans to build a US$124
5 million, 120,000 sqm, mixed-use development eco-friendly development in Sto
Tomas, Batangas
Listed as one of the country’s most influential persons by BizNews Asia, Dr
Leviste hails from a prominent family in Batangas, was the former chairman and president and CEO of energy company Mirant Corporation and has served 18 years in government