Asean finance ministers and central bank governors hold a press conference on
Friday to close their series of Asean Summit meetings in Cebu from April 3–7, 2017.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
Meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit recently held in Cebu may not have been as long or as huge as past activities of its kind, but local stakeholders nonetheless cited gains from having it held here.
Ma. Elena Arbon, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Cebu provincial director, said Cebu’s hosting of several Asean Summit–related meetings establishes the preeminent position of the province as an economic and cultural center outside Manila.
“This means that for investors considering locations to invest in, Cebu would always be in their radar,” she told Cebu Daily News in a text message.
Around 300 finance ministers, central bank governors and their deputies from Asean member-states wrapped up a weeklong series of meetings in Lapu-Lapu City on Friday, committing to undertake further steps to achieve financial integration in the region by 2025, a time frame already agreed upon in the past Asean summit.
In Cebu City, the Asean Defense Senior Officials Meeting was held at Radisson Blu Hotel from April 5 to 7.
For Arbon, this hosting meant Cebu will be able to attract more investments, generate more jobs and grow more as an economy.
“It’s about positioning and being visible,” she said.
Local business leaders commended Cebu’s hosting of the meetings.
Melanie Ng, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the province did an outstanding job.
Ng was among the local business executives who attended the Asean Finance Ministers’ Investor Seminar on Thursday.
“We have definitely reinforced our premium brand of warm welcome and impeccable hospitality,” she said.
Cebu Bankers Club past president Maximo Rey Eleccion, for his part, said the event was organized and well-attended as well.
He said security preparations were good, and traffic going to the venue from Cebu City was manageable.
Eleccion attended the debate hosted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum where panelists presented concrete bases why Asia, the Asean particularly, can withstand the impact of weak external demand, spillovers from advanced economies’ unconventional monetary policies and exchange rate pressures.
Edilberto Mendoza, past president of the Cebu Association of Tour Operations Specialists, said this opportunity has opened more doors for Cebu to the global market.
“We can expect a long-term growth in tourism in the coming months and years,” he said.
During their stay, some delegates enjoyed a tour of Cebu City’s historical sites.
Even after the meetings this week, other officials are expected to extend their stay to explore more of Cebu.
In a joint statement, Asean-member finance ministers and central bank governors thanked the Philippines for hosting the body’s meetings this year.
They also thanked the host country for “excellent arrangements made for the meetings and the warm hospitality.”
A success
The Asean meetings in Cebu ended yesterday without any untoward incident, according to the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
However, policemen remain in full alert until all the delegates and participants have left Cebu.
Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, PRO-7 director, said some delegates opted to visit some tourist spots in Cebu after the meetings.
“They will be escorted by policemen to ensure their safety,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Delegates and their spouses who opted to stay will be treated to a tour today by the Lapu-Lapu City government, according to the city’s tourism officer Hembler Mendoza.
“We were looking at an island tour as the first choice, but in case the weather is bad then an arts and craft will be the alternative,” said Mendoza.
He said the delegates will be accommodated in two motorized boats with a capacity of 40 passengers each. They will be escorted by the police for the whole duration of the tour.
Chief Insp. Junnel Caadlawon, head of the Tourist Police Unit of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said the security provided to the delegates is being coordinated with the Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force.
At least 400 delegates attended the Asean Summit meetings in Cebu that started last Monday.
“Ine-expect natin na matatapos ang (Asean Summit) ng walang aberya (We expect that the Asean Summit will end without any hitch),” he said.
A total of 3,500 policemen from different stations and units in Central Visayas were deployed during the duration of the Asean Summit’s finance and defense meetings in Cebu from April 3 to 7.
The “Task Group Cebu” and security personnel were deployed in different key areas in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu to secure the Asean delegates and other participants.
“We were well-prepared. Almost every hour, we monitored the deployment of our personnel,” he said.
Taliño said because of the heavy downpour last Monday and intermittent rain in the succeeding days, raincoats were distributed to policemen who were deployed for the Asean Summit meetings’ venues but some still got sick./With correspodent Norman Mendoza and Ray Chen S. Bahinting