THE Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) may not be able to host the first of the four meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), because the edifice is not yet complete, said Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional director Edilberto Tayao.
The convention center is set to be completed on July 31, 2015, but Tayao said the edifice is still on its 85 percent completion as of June 10 and they are still working on the building finishes, plumbing, electrical, mechanical and fire protection features.
The furnitures and furnishings will have to be completed by August and September, the month set for the ICC to host three other Apec meetings until October, Tayao said.
The first Apec meeting is the Senior Officials Meeting on Strengthening the Capital Markets, Infrastructure Development and Financing with some 300 participants and delegates from 21 countries in the Asia and the Pacific. The venue is slated at the Royal Garden Convention Center along Gen. Luna Street.
The three other meetings are the Ministerial Meeting on Small and Medium Enterprises on September 21-25; Senior Officials Meeting on Disaster Risk Preparedness, Reduction and Management on September 22-23; and the Ministerial Meeting on Food Security and the Blue Economy on September 28 to October 6, 2015. More than 2,000 delegates will attend the meetings.