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Cebu-based chief executive officers (CEO) believe that acceleration of infrastructure development as well as the enhancement of private-public partnerships (PPP) are essential to ensure that Cebu keeps standing as a commercial and industrial powerhouse.
These were among the key findings in the first PwC Cebu 2017 CEO survey released by Isla Lipana & Co./PwC Philippines last Friday.
“Building a lasting legacy for the organization and the people they serve while growing the business is fundamental to our Cebu CEOs’ success,” said lawyer Alexander Cabrera, PwC Philippines’ chairman and senior partner, as he shared some of the survey findings.
The study titled “Great expectations: The rise of the next-generation Cebu business leaders” surveyed and interviewed 108 homegrown CEOs, 96 of whom were given a survey while 12 gave one-on-one interviews.
Of the survey respondents, 83 percent said there should be focus on the collaboration between the private and public sectors while 50 percent confirmed that the most important challenge is the need to continuously innovate.
“There’s a lot of optimism in our first Cebu CEO Survey. Our respondents are confident, experienced, and have big ambitions,” the report said.
Furthermore, the respondents’ vision of the “New Cebu” was described as vibrant and progressive, but many of the old challenges remain.
Technology and innovation were seen to continue to play as the Cebu CEO’s launchpad for success, with their vision for technology-enabled business models and processes seen to make their operations more efficient and profitable.
On technology and innovation, 48 percent consider speed of technological change as a top threat, and 35 percent believe that technology should be prioritized, while 50 percent say that the most important challenge was to innovate.
Availability of skills (55 percent), uncertainty in economic growth (51 percent), and over-regulation (50 percent) were also cited as the top three threats Cebu will have to face in the next three years.
However, the report stated that “the CEOs’ mindset towards continuous innovation will make sure that they are relevant for the long run.”
Of the respondents, 44 percent traced their roots outside Cebu. Among them, 83 percent pointed to trade opportunities as the reason behind relocating here, while 69 percent cited economic conditions, and 45 percent said it was the geographic location that brought them to Cebu.
Aside from these components, the survey also looked into what contributed to the CEOs’ success.
Among those interviewed by the researcher were Bunny Pages of Pages Holdings, Inc.; Engineer Leonora Salvane of GT Cosmetics; Wesley Chiongbian of Mynimo; Pedro Delantar Jr. of Nature’s Legacy Eximport, Inc; Beverly Dayanan of Contempo Property Holdings, Inc.; Robert Go of the Prince Retail Group; Steve Benitez of Bo’s Coffee; Aljew Frasco of Titay’s Liloan Rosquillos & Delicacies, Inc; and Anya Lim of ANTHILL.