CCCI pushes for infra expansion

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry is bent on intensifying its advocacy to persuade the government to push for infrastructure projects that could attract investments in the manufacturing sector.

CCCI president Ma. Teresa Chan said that one of the chamber’s thrusts is to craft advocacies that will convince the government to accelerate infrastructure development projects, particularly the implementation of a new international port.

Chan said that with the congested ports of Cebu and Manila, the government really needs to rethink the implementation of projects currently on the pipeline to encourage big manufacturing investors to operate in the Philippines.          

Chan added that she is planning to coordinate with the Cebu provincial government as well as with the other concerned national government agencies to realize the plan for Cebu to have an international port that is at par with global standards in terms of size and facilities.

"If they want Cebu to be a transshipment hub for Asia Pacific, we certainly need a 'proper port' facility," Chan told The Freeman in an interview.

Although the Philippine's economy seems to be in a good state now as driven by strong consumer demand, it has to keep its balance for sustainability at the same time reinforce the growth of manufacturing investments to strengthen further the Philippine economy.

"CCCI is advocating for infrastructure [expansion] precisely attracting the manufacturing investments," Chan said adding that once the international port will be realized, the next move will be for a new seaport for Cebu.

She said the growth of the Philippine economy today is largely fueled by the strong consumption based demand. It is high time to strengthen the other leg, which is the long term investment of manufacturing that will employ huge number of people across educational attainment and backgrounds.

Likewise, in a separate interview with Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president for the Visayas Jose Ng, he said that there is a need for Cebu to take serious actions now to address the pressing concerns faced by most businesses, such as infrastructure support, high cost of doing business--specifically high power and labor rates.

Ng also mentioned the obvious problem in port congestion, not only in Cebu but also in Manila that already discouraged businesses, especially manufacturers to expand because of the difficulty of transporting and shipping their products. (FREEMAN)