CCCI to identify pilot areas for business council project

The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) is set to initiate the creation of business councils by the middle of this year starting off with identifying pilot towns within the province to establish a strong business support organization.

In an interview with newly elected CCCI president Edward Gaisano, he said that the Business Council group of the chamber which is initially composed of four-man team led by past president Hernan Estreegan, is now setting up a criteria on how to identify towns which will be considered as pilot areas of the Business Council initiative.

“We are now refining the rules on how to go about the Business Council. We are also considering the size of the town,” Gaisano said.

As of now, the chamber’s Business Council group is conducting a series of studies on the initiative including the refining of the culture of each town and aligning the goals of the local government unit to that of the chamber to ease the acceptance of the council.

Gaisano said before the end of this semester, CCCI is expected to refine the terms and reference of the project, as it will also closely coordinate with the Cebu Provincial government.

The creation of Local Business Councils, in each town in the Cebu province, is quite a new idea that aims to propel economic growth and support of the countryside industries, through the creation of a sound private-sector led support organization.

According to Gaisano, CCCI’s past presidents like Estreegan, will be invited to be involved in this new initiative.

Part of the mission of creating the local business council in the countryside, is primarily to create a good investment climate that is friendly to investors, and will work closely with the LGU to promote the interest of the capitalists, or industry players.

By the middle of 2008, Gaisano said the Business Council project is expected to take off, starting with pilot towns.

The seed money of P1 million which was given by Governor Gwen Garcia, will help the project start soon, Gaisano said.

Garcia earlier challenged the members of the Cebu business community, through CCCI to reach out to the industry players in the far-flung towns of the province to strengthen the industries in the towns and help players see opportunities for growth, in order to strengthen economic drivers in each town in Cebu.

However, Gaisano said initial projects will be started in identified one of two towns within the south or northern part of the province, after it succeed, the chamber will then duplicate the same program in other localities Cebu.

The creation of Business Councils in the whole province of Cebu is Gaisano’s major or flagship project during his term.