CCCI hopes for bigger, bolder Cebu business in 2023

CEBU CITY – The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) hopes for a bigger and bolder business events next year as it declared Cebu as very much now open to business after the worldwide disruptions of the pandemic and other challenges.

“Today, there seems to be a rebound of many business sectors such as the BPO-ICT/BPM, tourism is getting to be robust, the food industry is fast picking up and many others.  We are also very optimistic Cebu and the Philippines continue to have some growth beginning next year,” CCCI president Charles Kenneth Co said this during CCCI’s Year-end Press Conference on December 7 at the Quest Hotel, Cebu City.

CCCI bigwigs including its VP for Business Development, Jay Yuvallos and CBM 2023 overall chair, John Paul Chongbian agreed with Chamber president Charles Kenneth Co on the upbeat of all sectors and looking forward to a more dynamic public-private partnership for a ‘Safe and Healthy’ Cebu.

Co, in his presentation highlighted the compelling need to retrofit the CCCI in the beginning of 2021, redefining its services towards internal-oriented sustainability needs of the chamber and regrouped externally-driven services that were directed to the members and the Cebu business community.

The CCCI welcomes 66 new members its total membership to 911 as of December 2022 including 31 sectoral organizations, Co shared that the Chamber’s membership profile includes 425 companies from Service, 207 from Industry, 184 from Trade and Commerce, and 64 from the ICT/BPM sector.

Co said CCCI continues to lead as it participated in the events of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) including the 48th Philippine Business Conference and Expo, the 31st Visayas Area Business Conference, the 2nd Central Visayas Business Conference with the Italian, Spanish, British, Dutch, France and German Chambers of Commerce and Industry with Advantage Austria, and NordCham Philippines.

CCCI VP for Business Development, Jay Yuvallos on the other hand said, the chamber has achieved milestones in business development through mustering ‘Big Brothers/Buddies’ in the business community of Cebu and leveraging government support, grants, and financial programs to revive, repurpose and strengthen the MSMEs.

Yuvallos bared that the chamber’s business development is especially focused on those in the food and fish industry; tourism, creative entertainment and design; ICT-BPM, eCommerce; infrastructure, shipbuilding, manufacturing including start-up entrepreneurs.

“Our focus on development services included business linkages, trade and investment promotions, upskilling of current and future workforce, and projects that targeted special groups and specific industries deemed current and emerging economic drivers in Cebu,” Yuvallos added.

Yuvallos specially mentioned the partnership of the Cebu City Government and CCCI to fully implement the foundational requirements for Cebu as a major investment gateway in Asia Pacific.

“Discussions are in the pipeline to create the Cebu Investment Center (CIC), making Cebu as the center for ASPAC business center, how to create business and investments plans for Cebu and the ASPAC,” Yuvallos bared.

Yuvallos added that the CIC can be an important vehicle to Cebu City’s transformation into a Singapore-like development which is mayor Michael Rama’s vision for the City and the Chamber is greatly involved in this vision. 

He said that this vision must be talked about specifically the Grand Plan Cebu Waterfront project and the Green Lope infrastructure are great futuristic developments for the City that must be given a chance to come to life.

Yuvallos noted Cebu’s current huge infrastructure attracting more commerce and trade and leading in many first bold steps in global investments.  “The chamber is upbeat with Cebu’s economy and we are looking forward to a more vibrant business in the coming year,” he said. 

CCCI also recently announced the engagement of John Paul Chiongbian as the overall chair for CBM 2023.  He is the president and managing director of Cebu's first and biggest food market in Cebu – Sugbo Mercado. He had successful businesses around Cebu City. In 2022 he was the CBM 2022 Ways & Means Chairman under the leadership Overall Chairperson Brigitte Carmel Lim. (Photos: CCCI/FB/MBCNewman)