Cebu needs improvement on infra, int'l direct flights

PASAY CITY - Cebu needs to improve its infrastructures and needs more international direct flights to attract more investors.

This was the assessment made during a gathering of 130 French and Filipino companies and individuals at Sofitel Philippines in Pasay City on the occasion of a joint networking dinner the other night where Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was the first governor to be invited as guest speaker.

Garcia, in her speech, called on French and Filipino companies to explore and undertake projects and businesses in Cebu saying that the province does not only offer beaches, but locations suitable for foreign investments as well.

Garcia was the first governor to have been invited as guest speaker of the Le Club French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines. The business community includes the European Chamber of Commerce; the British, Spanish, Indian, and Taiwan Chambers; Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce, the Belgian, Finnish, Israeli and Singapore Business Associations, the Association of International Business Executives, Finex and the Makati Business Club.

Prior to the governor's speech, Joel Mari Yu of the Cebu Investment Promotions Center presented a video on Cebu South Road Properties and other investment opportunities in the province.

The governor's speech centered on why should the French business community, headed by French Ambassador Gerard Chesnel, invest in Cebu.

"The Province of Cebu recognizes that development and progress should not only concentrate in Cebu City, but we must also take initiatives in order to spread the development to 47 towns and five cities," Garcia said.

The governor boasted of the multi-million Cebu International Convention Center, where the province successfully hosted the 12th ASEAN Summit. She also spoke about the province's tourism caravan dubbed "Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo" that took foreign and domestic tourists to the different towns of Cebu and showed them the area's culture and food.

Bernard Flour, president of the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, said they were satisfied with Garcia's presentation but added that needs improvement in certain areas to attract foreign investors.

"Cebu needs to improve more on infrastructures as this will attract more investors. Apparently this is what the governor is targeting," Flour said.

Michel Hermelin, vice president of the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, said that they were convinced that Cebu "is a good place to conduct business," and are planning to set up a French Chamber of Commerce here so that businesses and other projects will not be merely concentrated in Manila.

Erik Molles Neilsen, the head of international shipping agent Maersk Global Service Center, said that they are looking at a possible expansion project in Cebu. He, however, said that Cebu needs to improve its services on international direct flights.

The Le Club French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines is a non-profit organization founded in 1988. Its goals are to promote French business in the Philippines and Filipino business in France.

Originally designed for the French or French-speaking representatives of French business concerns in the Philippines, it now welcomes Filipino members and other non-French speaking members whose business activities could help Le Club French Chamber of Commerce attain its goals. - Garry B. Lao/MEEV