New FFCCCI prexy to focus on investment, tourism promotion

Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce Inc. (FFCCCI) president Francis Chua is prioritizing investment and tourism promotion as the hallmark of his term as the newly-elected head of the chamber.

In his first press conference, Chua announced that the FFCCCI would help President Arroyo achieve her goal of creating more jobs by helping the government attract more investments and tourist to the country.

According to Chua, "our plan is to deploy our 170 local chambers nationwide to find good business opportunities in their respectiive areas."

The local chamber, Chua added, would also pinpoint promising tourism spots in the country which could be promoted and developed.

FFCCCI’s new strategy, Chua explained, would help create employment opportunities especially in the countryside by guiding investors and tourists where to go.

Chua said, "this is our contribution to the President’s 10-point program of job creation, investment generation and dispersal of economic development in the countryside."

The FFCCCI and its local chambers, Chua said, would work hand-in-hand with the Board of Investments (BOI) in finding the best investments suited for a specific locality.

The BOI, Chua noted, "needs all the help it can get considering that it does not have enough manpower to do the legwork in assessing the business opportunities in a province, and promoting the province to investors."

The FFCCCI, Chua said, would also help in drawing up a more focused investment priority list for each province to help foreign investors decide where to put their money.

The FFCCCI would also work with local government units (LGUs) and the Department of Tourism in identifying new areas for tourism.

Chua added that "we believe in the potential of the Philippines as a major tourism destination in Asia."

However, Chua advised, "we need to develop more tourism spots."

Chua elaborated that in choosing spots to develop, "We have to target not only foreign visittors and balikbayans, but also local tourists to ensure stable and recurring earnings from tourism."

FFCCCI is one of the country’s oldest and biggest organization with almost 8,000 members ffrom small and medium enterprises.