Monday, June 04, 2007 Group to convene ‘Think Tank’
FOLLOWING a re-establishment of its presence in Cebu, a local business group bared plans to convene a Think Tank to develop strategies to make the province the “most competitive and respected” in the country.
Cebu Business Club (CBC), which renewed its ties with its sister organization Makati Business Club (MBC) in formal ceremonies last Friday, will gather businessmen and local government officials in July to “develop an updated and implementable strategy to push the development of Cebu into the most competitive and respected province in the Philippines,” CBC president Dondi Joseph said.
The visioning and strategic planning forum will be chaired by economist Jess Estanislao.
The CBC plans to address the basic issues hounding Cebu’s economic landscape.
Although CBC was formally incorporated in 1984, the club has renewed its ties with MBC in hopes of further improving Cebu’s economy, with focus on good corporate governance, among others.
Interdependence
“There is no question that the interests of the private and public sectors are intertwined and interdependent, but our country will only be strong as its weakest link. Without the economic success that good governance and successful business brings, we will never be able to defeat poverty,” Joseph said.
“Business needs to have an independent voice from the government. We will try to be non-partisan as possible,” added Albert Lim, MBC executive director, during the memorandum of agreement signing Friday at the Casino Español de Cebu.
In a statement furnished to Sun.Star Cebu, CBC has identified five specific concerns affecting Cebu’s business environment, like the inadequacy of infrastructure and transportation, power shortage, water shortage, poor quality of education and the lack of good governance.
Objectives
The club’s core objectives center on the establishment and encouragement of non-formal social and business forums, dialogues and briefings, with individuals from private and public sectors to develop entrepreneurial and socio-economic development and the promotion of technical and educational formation of skilled and unskilled laborers in Cebu’s workforce.
It also aims to promote the agenda of Cebu’s business community, ensuring growing profitability, employment and human resource development.
In an earlier interview, Joseph stressed that the club does not consider itself as a competitor of existing business groups like the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Lapulapu and Cordova Chamber of Commerce and Industry but, instead, it will be an ally in developing Cebu’s business climate.
“In CBC, we believe that a half-full glass equates to a half-baked vision. We would like a full glass for a change and we are willing to invest to achieve that,” said Joseph.
The club’s original incorporators include Norberto Quisumbing Jr., Victor Chiongbian, Ruben Almendras, Pedro Dimaculangan, Eduardo Gullas, Sabino Dapat and Zoilo Cortes. (CYR/MMM)
