Given the above situation, it is reasonable that a comparison of the establishments in year 2000 and in 1990, counted at 11,177 and 10,658, respectively, yields a very low rate of increase of 4.9 percent. During the past five years, there is a slow but steady increase in business permits issued, averaging 2.72 percent as shown in Table 4.01.

Table 4.01
Number of Business Permits Issued (1998-2002)

As further manifested in Table 4.02, this is merely due to the shift in the nature of activities and not from any negative factors that may affect business development in the city.

A great number of establishments consist of retailers and wholesalers which implies that the city’s economy is mostly pedalled by small-scale enterprises with capitalization below P 150,000.00, as manifested in Table 4.03.

Table 4.03
Summary of Business Capitalization

However, it is expected that the city development plan which provides business incentives and higher commercial density will attract more investors in the years to come.

The city’s Business Permits and License Office (BPLO) has projected income from these business establishments to reach P638 million by year 2007 (Table 4.04). This is slowly being realized with the upsurge of investments especially in the development of the Edsa-Pioneer area into a major economic zone that could generate income and propel further growth and development in the entire city.

Table 4.04
Projected Income from Business Establishments 2000-2007