Ben Dapat , chairman of Tourism Industries Events of Cebu Business Month 2014 and Ma. Teresa B. Chan, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
CEBU’S top business leaders lobbied for more public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure projects to draw investors and tourists into the province.
“Facilities should come in first before the tourists,” said Ma. Teresa Chan, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce Incorporated (CCCI) in yesterday’s 888 forum held at Marco Polo Plaza.
Chan said the private sector should assume a greater role in implementing infrastructure projects in partnership with local government units (LGUs) to pump prime Cebu’s economy.
Ben Dapat, who chairs the Tourism and Industries Events of the Cebu Business Month (CBM), agreed and pointed to the ongoing Mactan-Cebu International Airport’s (MCIA) expansion project as an example.
“Once it is done, it can handle 35 million passengers and both local and national tourists.
Infrastructure is one of the core factors for Cebu to be competitive to attract investors and businessmen,” he said.
Dapat said infrastructure support and developments by both government and the public sector must expand to the countryside.
He cited the trans-axial highway project proposed by the late vice governor Greg Sanchez as crucial in linking the cities and towns of Cebu.
Dapat said a roundtable discussion will be held on June 20 among the Cabinet secretaries to discuss the plans for the 300 meter trans-axial highway connecting Santander in southern Cebu and Daanbantayan in the north.
“We cannot depend on the government all the time. The private sector also has to do its role and that is to sustain development and create road maps that is time-bound. Together we can put Cebu in the world map,” Dapat said.