Cebu traders want PNoy to get down to business

CEBU, Philippine s- For his upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, the Cebu business sector wants President Benigno Aquino III to get down to business and make concrete directions in making the country more competitive.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Lito Maderazo said that the greatest achievement of the Aquino administration so far, is on having built a good reputation for the country within the international business community. However, this should be complemented with concrete plans and programs to realize investments coming to the Philippines.

“I did not see any major project being done in Cebu [under the current administration], except for the airport. Cebu as an economic hub, creates its own development. But, the goodwill of the Philippine government as a country has benefited Cebu in terms of Foreign Direct Investors confidence,” said Maderazo.

“He should really get down to business this time,” said Maderazo.

The Philippines’ competitiveness within the region should be seriously taken into consideration specifically that the ASEAN integration is nearing.

The Cebu business sector wants the PNoy government to amend some of the economic provisions in the constitution such as the foreigners land ownership provision, among others.

The judiciary and military institutions should be well fixed and other concerns that make the Philippines less competitive to other countries within the region, and even in the global setting.

Maderazo said the business sector would want the President to make concrete plans on how the Philippines will be able to compete especially on the ASEAN integration this coming 2015.

“Would we allow ourselves to be swallowed by our ASEAN neighbors?” said Maderazo.

He said the Philippines right now, is too far away from its neighbors in terms of competitiveness. In the tourism sector alone, the Philippines is at the tail-end when it comes to attracting volumes of tourists. Thailand and Vietnam are on top of the international tourists’ list as preferred destinations. While the Philippines is aiming to hit 10 million foreign arrivals, Thailand on the other hand, is reaching over 25 million tourists a year.

Cebu Business Club (CBC) president Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph said that although it has been a good start for the PNoy administration, still everyone has to realize that there are still significant steps required to move forward.

“We need to create more jobs and these can only come from local investments and foreign direct investments. Our FDI performance remains pretty poor,” Joseph stressed.

Another area of focus, that Cebuano businessmen would like to hear on the upcoming SONA is the administration’s serious implementation on infrastructure development, “not just the major PPP [Public-Private-Partnership], but throughout the country. There should also be continued focus on improving the quality of education.”

In Cebu, Joseph said the private and public sector are currently working on developing the global competitiveness and liveability.

“We are in fact about to begin the master plan for this with the assistance of JICA [Japan International Cooperation Agency]. We will continue focusing on this with the 14 LGUs that comprise MEGA Cebu. They have been excellent partners in the entire process,” said Joseph. /JOB (FREEMAN)