Governor tells business sector to be innovative

CEBU, Philippines - Amid the global economic crisis, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has challenged the business sector in the province to “think out of the box” and come up with programs that would enable them to cope.

During a meeting at the Provincial Capitol yesterday, the representatives from various business fields that are affected by the economic slowdown presented their programs and proposal to the governor hoping she could help them.

Among the most common concerns of the businessmen is the accessibility of capital, to which Garcia responded by telling the members of the Cebu Bankers Club to come up with their own policy innovations to make funds accessible to clients who may want to avail of loans.

Another common concern is the high cost of maintenance and operations and the increasing labor cost. 

Baste Lacson of the Visayan Electric Company assured that they will do everything to facilitate and try to find ways to help the ailing business sector of the province.

With regards to high labor cost that has resulted to displacement of workers, it was suggested that businessmen should venture into tourism-oriented programs that would be of help to workers who have been laid off in their jobs.

Meanwhile, the exporters in Cebu who claimed to be the hardest hit by the global economic crunch, had urged banks to study possibility of implementation of buy out loans or restructuring of loans to help those who need funds.

Jay Yuvallos, the president of Philippine Export-Cebu, said that if the export industry is lost, the banking sector will also be affected because they will not be given necessary support.

But Yuvallos is optimistic that they could survive, saying the national government has an export promotion fund amounting to P1 billion that would help the export sector in the Philippines.

The information technology and business process outsourcing industries have also come up also with proposals offering job alternatives especially to the displaced workers.

Garcia will meet again with the business sector together with Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and other concerned government agencies on March 24 to discuss the updates on the proposals that they have come up during yesterday’s meeting. — Johanna Natavio/WAB   (THE FREEMAN)