CCCI to push SMEs to the global market

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) is creating a mechanism to link Cebuano SMEs to the different market points in the world.

CCCI president Melanie Ng announced that while the chamber has started its active stance to connect with foreign chambers through trade missions, and explorations, there are still a lot of country-markets that the chamber has to connect with.

Likewise, aside from opening the doors for SMEs to easily enter other countries through strategic partnerships, Cebu as an economy could also be showcased in different countries.

"We have a lot of investment opportunities here. A lot of things we can offer. It is time to push ourselves to the world," said Ng.

Along with this plan, Ng also challenges local businesses to identify their core competence and expertise in order to take advantage of the golden opportunity for global alliances.

Already, CCCI has built its own roster of trade relations with other countries such as Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, Turkey, Russia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, among others.

But this established partnerships, she said should be followed up constantly and that an effective mechanism should be put in place in order to extract its full benefits.

She added that local companies have to get ready in employing world-standard operations and good international relation expertise to anticipate the opportunities that will be brought about by the upcoming ASEAN Summit to be held in the country next year.

Japan, Australia and New Zealand for instance, local businesses could capitalize on our rich agricultural resources, as businessmen in these countries have expressed strong interest to in agriculture-related businesses.

Ng expects that by next year, more countries will become CCCI's partners to boost the global penetration of local SMEs. (FREEMAN)