LGU’s should market their towns to investors
I can only count in the fingers of my hands local chief executives really pushing for foreign and local investors to do business in their towns and cities. Primary reason is a local chief executive is heavily immersed in his functions as head. There are projects to inspect, events to attend to, places to visit, guests to host, and all sorts of distractions that would eat up his time and mental capacities.
There are political rivals to be aware of, public funds to be managed and employees and political allies to attend to. These and more, plus the fact that when You spent and invested so much in the elections, you need to recover said expenses or capital so you need to ensure that there are enough projects to rake in some milk.
So marketing their town or city will not likely be in the top to-do list, for most. Although getting foreign investors is a common agenda in their wish lists, it remains often than not at the bottom of the ‘things to be done asap’ especially those who have been politicians all their lives.
City or town marketing, according to Amelie Balencourt and Antonio Zafra, is the promotion of a city or town, or a district within it, with the aim of encouraging certain activities to take place there. It is used to alter the external perceptions of a city on order to encourage tourism, attract inward migrations of residents, or enable business relocation.
We have seen LGUs push promote their tourism destinations, their festivals and other cultural activities. But in terms of investment, comprehensive land use plan and zoning valuation, very few actually make it to the satisfactory mark.
Why should LGUs strategically plan their land use and select which type of investments come in to their areas?
1. They have control or get to choose what businesses or investments will be more beneficial to their constituents. Like providing more jobs while minimizing carbon footprints and damages to the environment.
2. They can differentiate, not doing what every town or city does, not wanting what every town or city wants. That way, they can have unique selling proposition and higher success rate in attracting foreign or local investors.
3. They can come up with their own investment plan, according to their strength, resources and capacity and offer it first- hand to their citizens and expats who wanted to see progress in their communities. At least a government-issued bond guaranteed by a financial institution offering competitive returns looks credible.
4. They will not be at the mercy of investors. Some towns due to lack of planning and strategy give away their most precious resources to foreigners without bargaining to the best advantage of their constituents. We see mining companies that disrespect the local culture, drive away or eliminate locals who get in their way, destroy the environment. Sometimes these happen and local officials play blind and dumb about it especially if they accepted bribe in the first place.
5. They can act, decide and promote to the best of their locality’s advantage, not to mention their pockets (if they ever accept bribes).
If LGUs can not personally do this for their town or city for certain limitations or whatever reasons, companies like CommunicAsia PR and ASEA Investment and Tourism Promotion Center, can do that for them. Contact me if you are interested and I will connect you with these awesome people. Email me at vanjdpadilla@gmail.com for details.
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