THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) will lobby with the Deparment of Trade and Industry (DTI) so Cebu could host some meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.
“I am still appealing to DTI to hold some of the business events in Cebu. One of our CCCI past CBM (Cebu Business Month) chairs (Jay Yuvallos) is a member of the ASEAN BAC (Business Advisory Council), which is co-organizing the Business and Investment Program events with DTI,” said Ng.
Ng, who was one of the moderators of yesterday’s DTI-organized SlingShot PH at Harolds Hotel, said the chamber wants to have some of the ASEAN meetings held in Cebu.
The business leader was present during the launching of the ASEAN 2017 Business and Investment Forum in Malacañang on Tuesday led by DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez.
Ng expressed excitement for the ASEAN Summit, but said most of the meetings will be held in Luzon. Two of the Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOM) will be in Cebu, she said.
Among the six priorities identified for the Philippines’ ASEAN 2017 chairmanship is the promotion of inclusive and innovation-led growth.
In 2015, Cebu also hosted some of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings.
DTI Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya, who gave a keynote speech in yesterday’s SlingShot PH, emphasized the importance of creating an innovation-based economy.
“In addition to enabling productivity improvements with existing firms, innovation empowers the creation of new and often more productive and competitive firms and industries. And these innovative firms and industries tend to pay higher wages,” said Maglaya.