35TH MINBIZCON
TheMonitorMidanaoToday.com | Conference links topics to bridge business gaps
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, host of this year’s Mindanao Business Conference (MinBizCon), has pitched to hundreds of delegates that the three-day event at the Atrium of Limketkai Mall could enable them to chart solutions to age-old bottlenecks in doing business.
Conference Director Irene L. Floro, the chairperson of the Oro Chamber Board of Trustees, disclosed in a forum on Friday, July 31, that issues raised in pre-conference consultations include, among others, gaps in infrastructure, logistics, employment, and financing.
These, she said, have been validated by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), a government agency primarily tasked to coordinate and accelerate development programs and projects in southern Philippines.
With the City Government of Cagayan de Oro, MinDA is co-hosting the MinBizCon—an annual gathering of business leaders under the auspices of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI). This is sixth time the Oro Chamber is hosting the island-wide event.
“We have invited banks so that those who wish to avail of loans for fresh capital can have approvals of applications right there and then,” said Floro who, for decades, heads a group of seafood wholesalers who know existing logistics issues of storage and transport first hand.
Oro Chamber President Almarco Brito, who was with Floro in the forum, said the pronouncements of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the removal of the system loss item in the power billing and promotion of renewable energy—particularly solar power—are responsive to Minbizcon’s previous resolutions.
“We must bring down the cost of electricity,” Brito said, underscoring it as a primary limiting factor in manufacturing and processing industries.
Among the invited conference speakers on Day 2 include Executive Director Angelo Kairos Dela Cruz of the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities who will present the Mindanao Energy Transition Framework including energy forecast and monitoring system, and Energy Sales Acquisition Manager Edward Ybarbia of AdventEnergy, Inc.
Reliable and affordable electricity and water supply are among specific issues under the infrastructure gap, aside from flood-control, road and bridges, seaport and airport projects.
Brito said Oro Chamber members also welcome the national government’s shift toward electric vehicles amid the unpredictability supply and soaring prices of petroleum products from the Middle East due to geopolitical tensions.
John Asuncion, who heads the Local Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Office, the MinBizCon is an opportune time for the city “to showcase” can offer, aside from its strategic geographic location as the “Gateway to Mindanao.” To welcome our guests, all delegates are invited to the City Mayor’s Night” on Day 1 at the Limketkai Luxe Hotel
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