ENCOURAGED by the successful run of the first India Business Roadshow-Cebu Edition, key leaders of Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) are eyeing to mount another trade mission to India.
“It’s a matter of time that we organize a trade mission to India again and see how we do things together,” said CCCI past president Felix Taguiam, citing the immense business opportunities in store for both Cebuano and Indian entrepreneurs.
Although there’s no specific timeline yet, Taguiam said India, one of the world’s fastest growing economies, is a big market worth exploring.
In 2014, Taguiam said, 20 CCCI member companies went to India for a trade mission.
One of the successful outcomes of the trip was International Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s entry into the Indian market through the opening of its sales and marketing office in 2017.
In an interview Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, Stanley Uang, IPI’s vice president for business development and IPI India managing director, cited India’s socio-economic conditions, growing middle-income class and population as among the factors that triggered the firm’s expansion in India.
“India has always been part of our overseas expansion plans alongside China and countries in Central Asia,” he said. “These roadshows open our eyes that India can be a market.”
Last Nov. 15, CCCI and the India Business Forum (IBF) signed a memorandum of understanding to foster collaboration and mutual cooperation. The partnership sets the stage for enhanced economic and trade relations between their respective business communities.
Taguiam said there will be series of meetings after this partnership and they will “probably go outbound trip to India to personally see what they have to apply and make Cebu better.”
Recently, the IBF in cooperation with CCCI mounted the first India Business Roadshow-Cebu Edition that attracted 30 Indian businesses and 100 CCCI members for a business-to-business (B2B) matching activity.
The two-day business roadshow aims to grow trade relations between India and Cebu in seven priority areas—agriculture, energy, infrastructure, innovative technology solutions, information technology-business process management, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and tourism.
According to Sadre Alam, economics and commerce counsellor from the Embassy of India, these are the areas that hold potential for partnerships based on complementary strengths and comparative advantages of Cebu and India.
India and the Philippines registered a trade volume in excess of US$3 billion last year.
“At the end of the day, economic and business cooperation is the driver of the India and the Philippines’ partnership,” said Indian ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran.
Also in 2009, some 41 members of the CCCI went to India for a six-day trade mission.
Led by CCCI-India Business Council chairperson Mila Espina, Cebuano businessmen visited New Delhi and Agra for business tours, business matching to explore partnerships and opportunities, especially in the fields for academic and trade exchanges.
In 2022, over 100 Cebuano business leaders also attended the first B2B matching event jointly organized by the CCCI, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (Phil) Inc. and the Embassy of India.
The trade delegation from India was composed of the members of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, a trade promotion body set up by the Ministry of Commerce Government of India supported by the Embassy of India, Manila.
The event highlighted 22 multi-product firms representing sectors in food and agro products; frozen bovine/buffalo and sheep meat; pharmaceuticals (medicine and food supplements); medical devices, surgical instruments, hospital equipment and human augmentation; textile, apparels and garments; auto components (brake and clutch linings for trucks, buses etc.); construction (ceramic and tiles); ceramic/porcelain wall and floor tiles; and printing and packaging paper, toys and educational/recreational materials for children.