Sun.Star Economic Forum

GOVERNMENT should look after the basics like infrastructure, institutions, goods market effeciency than give subsidies to small medium enterprises (SMEs), a German expert said.

Siegfried Herzog of Friedrich Naumann Foundation shared Germany’s SME experience during the Sun.Star Economic Forum Wednesday at the Casino Espanol. Read the rest of this entry »

SUN.STAR Publishing Inc. President Jesus B. Garcia opened Wednesday’s Sun.Star Economic Forum on Business Process Outsourcing with the identification of challenges and issues confronting the industry.

This year’s economic forum is focused on the prospects and challenges of BPO.

Garcia, who was former transportation and telecommunications secretary, said Cebu being a limestone island couldn’t grow in terms of agriculture and industry.

“The only way for Cebu to grow is to grow through the services sector, “ Garcia added.

Read the rest of this entry »

CEBU’S economy is considered to be the fastest growing among other provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao, and is the fifth largest in the country.

In recent years, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry has become one of the main drivers of economic growth in the province. Nearly all recently-completed buildings, as well as those being constructed at the moment, are meant to cater to the projected need for office space of BPO companies.

This year’s Sun.Star Economic Forum (SEF), as a resource of information on Cebu’s business environment, will tackle issues related to the BPO industry.(more)

DURING the debut of this column last May 9, we talked about the 4th Sun.Star Economic Forum held last August 2007 to discuss the problems of Cebu’s tourism industry.

Stakeholders from the industry—from hotel and restaurant operators, to tour operators and mall owners and representatives from the Department of Tourism—weighed in on the issues of manpower, transportation, cleanliness and road infrastructure, saying improvements in these areas could improve the travel experience of tourists, give Cebu a better image, and possibly encourage repeat visits or recommendations to visit the Philippines.

At the end of the conference, the Sun.Star Economic Forum (SEF), a deliberative and advocacy body working for the growth and development of Cebu and Central Visayas, came up with resolutions, setting the stage for its push into advocacy. (more)