Cranes seen on top of buildings being constructed in Cebu are a sign of the booming real property sector.
CDN FILE PHOTO
2017 economic PROSPECTS
MANY cranes in Cebu particularly in Mandaue and Cebu cities mean more real estate projects in these cities, which also mean better prospects for Cebu this year.
Donato Busa, immediate past president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), was referring to the construction equipment seen overhead in bustling parts of the Metro Cebu.
Busa said this is an indication of continued investor confidence in Cebu.
This was Busa’s reaction when asked about Cebu’s prospects for the year.
The business leader also said he was also excited about the upcoming business matching event hosted by the Bank of China (BOC) in Manila March of this year.
This initiative is seen to provide micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) in the Philippines access to a wider array of information, capital, technology, and markets.
Local traders see this as an opportunity to bring in capital investments and loans to spur the growth of MSMEs here.
Busa said the expected influx of more investors, particularly from China, was also a good sign that the country’s economy would expand further this year.
Melanie Ng, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, for her part, also foresees better prospects for Cebu, but she said businesses should take action to make the year even more prosperous.
Ng said there is a need to improve logistics, solve infrastructure concerns, and work with government to make the economy conducive for businesses to thrive.
“Prospects are bright for this year for us. With the influx of more tourists and prospective investors, we expect to see growth in the local economy once the opportunities turn into projects and investments,” she said in a text message.
Last year, the economy grew by 6.8 percent, which is its fastest expansion in three years and was among the highest full-year growth rates in Asia in 2016.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III earlier projected the economy to expand by another 6.5 to 7 percent this year, owing to a healthy foreign exchange buffer, a strong banking system, as well as a young and educated workforce.
But Cebu Business Club (CBC) president Gordon Alan Joseph, however, believed that the country’s GDP may be reducing, which is common to many economies now due to global and local uncertainties.
“To my mind this raises the call to address the issues that are restricting GDP growth. We cannot be complacent,” he said.
Joseph called for the need to be aggressive in pushing for institutional reforms, earlier rallied by President Rodrigo Duterte in his 10-point socioeconomic agenda.
The CBC president pointed out that GDP growth cannot be achieved by a stroke of luck, but rather a properly executed strategy.