With a new branding campaign and investment guidebook, the economic managers of Region 2 or Cagayan Valley are committed to promote the region as an ideal investment destination in the country.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Cagayan Valley’s Regional Development Council (RDC) recently launched its new branding campaign dubbed as “Bountiful Cagayan Valley Region,” and its 2012 Investment Guidebook, which aims to attract local and international investors and draw businesses that will generate jobs and consequently reduce poverty in the region.

“The five provinces of Region 2 are one in building up investments and improving the economy of the whole Cagayan Valley Region,” according to RDC 2 acting Chairman Mary Anne Darauay.

Cagayan Valley is composed of the provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.

Darauay said that the initiative is in response to the region’s desire of promoting its rich and diverse investment potentials.

The official noted that the decision of coming up with a unified regional branding and an investment guidebook was made possible by contributions of RDC 2 members, especially the provincial governments and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) and their commitment to promote the region as a whole.

“We will try our best to generate funds for the promotion of Cagayan Valley Region to be known not only nationally but globally,” the NEDA official added.

Positioning itself as the country’s northern gateway, prime water resource and grains producer, the NEDA said that Cagayan Valley’s Regional Development Plan (RDP) 2011 to 2016 targets to strengthen and expand the industries of grains processing, manufacturing, bioenergy development and multiindustrial clusters, by luring investors to pour in fresh capital in the region’s five provinces.

“Ours is a truly bountiful region, with rich agricultural areas, forestlands and grasslands for industrial and commercial expansions. We want to make these investors appreciate the region’s bounty and beauty, and eventually make them come over and invest in the region,” Darauay further said.

Cagayan Valley is located at the northernmost part of the Philippines, making it an ideal spot for aggressive trading and tourism promotion.

The region also supplies the grain requirement of Metro Manila and is still capable of further trade with its neighboring provinces.

It also posted the biggest jump in economic growth in 2011 with a 6.5-percentage-point increase, as its gross regional domestic product (RDP) increased by 5.4 percent in 2011 from negative 1.1 percent in 2010.

Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing industry drove Cagayan Valley’s output growth in 2011, exceeding its RDP target of 4.13 percent for 2011.

NEDA mentioned that with the region’s comparative advantage in the agriculture sector, the industry and service sectors are also seen as instrumental in the region’s efficiency and productivity.

Meanwhile, investments in Cagayan Valley grew by an average of 40 percent annually, with CEZA contributing majority of total investments.

The interactive gaming industry continues to be CEZA’s prime investment attraction contributing more than half of the port’s capital investment.