MANILA — The signing of the Framework Agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is expected to boost investment in southern Philippines, a senior official said Thursday.



“We have to demonstrate within the next six to 12 months that there is a significant improvement in the peace and order situation. Then they (investors) will come in droves,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the annual Presidential forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).



Domingo said the country’s southern region have abundant resources, but investors were not keen to go to Mindanao in the past owing to peace and security problems.



But Monday’s signing of the peace pact between the government and the separatist rebels is expected to promote peace and order in Mindanao.



Domingo said that there have been expressions of interest from potential investors from France and India, among others “just in the last few days.”



“The foreign chambers and ambassadors met after this (framework agreement signing) and they had a very strong discussion of support for this effort.



We can secure global support,” he said.



“There have been expressions of support and interest from several countries. They are really gung-ho. It’s not the ministerial, ‘We’d like to,’ but ‘Let us know what you need, we’d like to support this peace effort,’” he added.



Domingo said the Philippine government is expecting “hundreds of millions of dollars” of new investments to come in, most of which will be in the power, mining, manufacturing and agriculture sectors. The expected investments will go to General Santos, Cagayan de Oro and Davao cities, which have long been key business centers in the south.



But Domingo said with the framework agreement, the government is anticipating that more businesses will also be established in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which will be replaced by the Bangsamoro entity under the government-MILF pact.



He assured that Mindanao is prepared for the influx of investors in Mindanao.



“The absorption capacity is there because there are lots of opportunities,” he said. President Benigno Aquino III said in the same forum the MILF will help the government in preserving peace in Mindanao.



“Besides the security forces of the state, the MILF is an active, very active component of preserving the peace in Mindanao, “ he said. — Agencies