Wednesday, February 13, 2008 CIPC eyes P12M budget By Malou M. Mozo Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TO lure big investors to Cebu, the Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC) needs to increase its marketing budget to at least P12 million or as much P15 million a year.
CIPC managing director Joel Mari Yu said that, at present, the organization is thriving on an annual P5-million to P6-million budget, which is sourced from the Cebu City Government and Cebu Province. The amount is used for various promotional efforts.
“P5 million to P6 million, is clearly not enough,” Yu lamented.
Yu said an additional P6 million to P9 million will fund marketing support and pay for collaterals and honoraria of consultants in overseas target markets.
Limited
“We are only limited to areas we can go because we are out of budget,” he said, adding that Europe and China would have been potential markets because of their strong economic background.
He said that with Cebu fast becoming an emerging business and leisure destination in Asia, it would be easier to capture big investors from Europe and China if the budget for promoting the province is increased.
CIPC receives P3 million every year as fixed appropriation from the Cebu City Government. The City Government gives the CIPC P2 million to P3 million more every year for marketing the South Road Properties, Yu said.
The Provincial Government, on the other hand, extends P500,000 every year to CIPC to fund the latter’s province-wide marketing programs among potential foreign investors.
Yu said Lapu-Lapu City used to give P500,000 every year during the term of then mayor Ernest Weigel Jr.
He said CIPC also receives international grants from foreign governments.
Whole Cebu
In an interview, Yu said for CIPC to implement marketing strategies for Metro Cebu and the entire province year-round, P6 million is “clearly too small,” considering that other organizations spend P10 million for promotion and branding campaigns.
“If during the Sinulog, we spend P50 million, including promotions, what more when we want to promote the whole of Cebu?” he said.
Yu cited Singapore, which ranked first in development and promotion in the Top 10 Asian Cities of the Future, as listed by the Finance Direct Investment magazine of the Financial Times Group. He said Singapore spends “100 times” more than Cebu for marketing campaign, which explains the surge of foreign direct investments to the country.
“CIPC opens its doors to investors and works with them to exploit business returns in Cebu that are among the most attractive in Asia,” he said.
CIPC, a non-stock, non-profit organization, was established in 1994. It is tasked to provide economic information and statistics on Cebu, arrange site visits to possible reputable business locations and other facilities, and link possible business partners and service providers, among others.
