CCCI team to Hawaii on trade mission

CEBU, Philippines – A delegation composed of members of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) are going to an eight-day trade mission in Hawaii starting tomorrow November 30 to December 7.

Through the newly created CCCI-Hawaii Business Council, the Cebuano businessmen are going to promote Cebu's several sectors to Hawaii, such as tourism, health, food, real estate and construction, furniture retirement facilities, among others.

Headed by CCCI-Hawaii Business Council chairman Benjamin Avila the group hopes to conduct business forum and business matching with the members of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce in Hawaii.

According to Avila, the Cebu-delegation will also present investment and trade opportunities in Cebu to the Hawaiian investing community, as well as provide networking opportunities with the private and public sectors.

The group will also visit some companies based in Pearl Harbor, the Big Island, Maui, and other big tourism destination there.

After CCCI and the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii signed a sisterhood agreement last year, Avila said that this visit is seen to strengthen the trade partnership between the two chambers.

He also hopes that after the visit, more investors from Hawaii will be able to be interested to put in money in Cebu, specifically in tourism, other sectors.

Following the sisterhood agreement of CCCI and the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Cebu floated an idea to initiate in getting support and learn from Hawaii in terms of effective tourism blueprint.

Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) managing director Joel Mari S. Yu suggested that Cebu should take advantage in reaching out of Hawaii government to forge a strong relation between Cebu and Honolulu.

"We should learn how they were able to promote Hawaii [in terms of tourism]. We have the same attraction, unlike Paris, France and other well known destinations," Yu said.

In 1994, the Cebu government started to formulate a strong partnership with Honolulu government, and one of the primary concerns was to learn from Hawaii, in formulate effective tourism promotion blueprint.

However, Yu said the planned partnership was not successful because of the political transitions. Now, Yu hopes that the tourism private sector will lead in getting technical support from Hawaii.

"You see, Hawaii and the Philippines, have the same attraction-sea, climate and the sun. We should learn from them," Yu said.

Today, the tourism industry in Honolulu is a US$2.5 billion industry, providing over 500 thousand jobs.

The Chamber sees the need to take advantage of the opportunity by organizing a Hawaii Business Council aimed to create economic ties between the business community of Cebu and the businessmen in Hawaii. The Business Council shall serve as a venue for the regular exchange of information and ideas between both chambers.

The trade mission will focus on establishing business trade links between Cebu Chamber companies and Honolulu companies. In addition to one-on-one business matching sessions, the agenda will also include meetings with key government officials and business leaders; networking opportunities, country briefings, site visits and social activities. The mission takes place within the context of promoting Cebu products and services.

The mission is composed of CCCI member companies, sectoral associations and affiliate Chambers who are interested to participate in trade activities in Hawaii.

To strengthen its position as the engine of Cebu's business growth towards Global Competitiveness, the CCCI created Business Councils covering various identified key cities in the world. These cities, seen as fertile ground for the development of trade links with CCCI members include: Daly City, California; Xiamen, China; Seoul, South Korea; Vancouver/Ontario, Canada; Moscow, Russia; Tel Aviv, Israel; Johannesburg, South Africa; Honolulu, Hawaii, and, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. (FREEMAN)