President Rodrigo Duterte, who is expected to be at the launching of the third Cebu bridge this week, will have a dialogue with businessmen in Cebu. FILE PHOTO
Around 200 private sector representatives are expected to participate in a dialogue with President Rodrigo Duterte when he comes to Cebu on March 2.
Melanie Ng, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), said among the topics that may be raised during the activity are Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda, proposed tax reforms, ease of doing business, and infrastructure.
“We wanted to invite him to a dialogue with the business community since there were a lot of policies announced in relation to his socioeconomic agenda. We’re very happy with all those that are really supporting business,” she told reporters at the CCCI’s general membership meeting and election last Friday.
CCCI on Friday also elected its new board of trustees, to be announced and inducted by President Duterte during the dialogue.
The dialogue will be held at the Waterfront Mactan Airport Hotel & Casino, conveniently on the same island as Cordova, where Duterte will attend the inauguration of the Cebu-Cordova bridge.
Aside from CCCI members, the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), other business groups, sectoral organizations, and regional public sector representatives will also be invited.
The dialogue was co-organized by the office of Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, who committed to continue working to bridge the gap between the local business community and Malacañang.
As keynote speaker during CCCI’s meeting last week, Dino assured the business community in Cebu of his full support.
Among the issues he wants to solve to help business in Cebu prosper is the traffic situation here, which he said has caused a certain Japanese logistics company to set aside plans of expansion after seeing the magnitude of the problem.
Citing the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), Dino said Cebu loses P145 million in daily productivity due to traffic congestion.