Friday, October 26, 2007 French businesses eye Cebu
GROWTH in tourism, information technology, and fashion accessories and furniture manufacturing industries in Cebu is attracting investors in France.
However, local industry stakeholders need to intensify their marketing efforts if they want to capitalize on French entrepreneurs who want to do business outside of France and Europe, said Bernard Flour, Le Club president of the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (FCCP).
“Business- and tourism-wise, Cebu has a very strong potential. The city is more at ease, more relax,” he said.
Flour said Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s visit to France last year, for example, has attracted the attention of a joint chamber when she discussed the prospects of Cebu as a business and leisure hub.
He said that as a tourism destination, Cebu and its neighboring provinces have huge potentials to attract French travelers.
Ecozone advantage
Flour said the approval of the bill declaring the entire Cebu an “economic development zone” will be a major competitive advantage for the province as cost of doing business here will be lowered.
But he said the province, and the country in general, is competing against other member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia in terms of infrastructure development.
The French have little knowledge about the Philippines, he said.
To help raise awareness about the Cebu market among the French and vice versa, the FCCP together with Marco Polo Plaza Cebu will introduce for the first time the Soiree Beaujolais Cebu 2007 on Nov. 29. The event will also feature Beaujolais Nouveau, a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France.
Festival wine
The wine is considered one of the most popular “vin de primeur” (prime wine), whose grapes are fermented only for a few weeks after harvest. It is officially released for sale on the third Thursday of November.
The annual international festival has already sold over 65 million bottles of red wine, nearly half of the region’s total yearly production, Flour said.
Since the wine undergoes a short fermentation period, it tastes “fruity, fresh and easy to drink,” Flour said during a press conference yesterday.
Marco Polo Cebu general manager Hans Hauri said Soiree Beaujolais Cebu will provide an opportunity to promote business interests among French and Cebuano businessmen.
“We want to send the message to the Filipinos that France is not only about Paris,” said Le Club administrator Henri Ortiz.
Flour also said the event aims to attract more members to FCCP. (MMM)
