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Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Cebu may soon host int’l trade, exhibit center
CEBU’S clamor for an international trade and exhibit center has been heard, with private investors showing interest in providing the facility to the Cebu business community, especially the exporters.
A 2,000-square-meter space, which will be developed into a trade and exhibit center, has been allotted by FF Cruz & Co. Inc. (FFCCI) in its Cebu Boardwalk (CB) project in the Mandaue reclamation project.
CB property management director Yvonne Gomos said the Manila-based company itself will invest in the center, which is expected to begin operations by June next year, along with the completion of the entire CB project.
An exhibition company based in China has also expressed interest in investing in a trade and exhibit center in Cebu, saying Cebu is a “nice possible place for investment.”
“We will definitely explore this possibility. Cebu is a nice place and (has) nice people,” Yi-wu International Exhibition Co. general manager Guangtao Li told Sun.Star during his visit to Cebu in line with the Mandaue Business Month celebration last month.
Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) president Jay Yuvallos welcomed the expressions of interest, saying Cebu, especially its exporters, really need the facility.
Attract
“Cebu really needs large exhibit centers. It’s a chicken and egg thing. If there are exhibit centers, then many trade and exhibit events will happen in Cebu. How can we attract trade organizers to conduct trade shows in Cebu when we don’t have the venue? Let us not limit our analysis (on the sustainability of the center) to the past (trade shows) but (look) to the future,” he said.
Association of Professional Congress/Event Organizers and Suppliers Philippines Inc. president Marissa Nallana earlier said Cebu needs a bigger exhibition center to accommodate the increasing interest of convention and exhibition organizers to hold events in the area.
“Cebu is a very good site. But there is a need to build a bigger exhibition center to accommodate larger exhibitions. All it has now is the Waterfront (Hotel), and the space is not enough,” she said.
Yuvallos confirmed this, saying the CFIF’s annual furniture show, Cebu X, which is held at the convention center of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, has been turning down Manila-based companies that want to join the exhibit due to limited space.
Exporters have been asking the government to construct a world-class international trade and exhibition center in Cebu.
So far, the government has provided money only for the feasibility study of the center, Yuvallos said. JBN
(September 7, 2004 issue)
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