Cebu eyes growth in creative industries

Enjoying hefty gains from shipbuilding the information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO), Cebu is setting it sights on another growth area: the design sector.
“Cebu in terms of economic growth has outpaced NCR [National Capital Region] due to relatively lower economic base and very strong economic drivers – IT-BPO, shipbuilding,” Francis Monera, vice president for Visayas of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told reporters in an interview Thursday.
The IT-BPO industry pays the province P12-billion in annual salaries, and 80 percent of national shippers have set up headquarters in Cebu.
IT-BPO and shipbuilding rely on a talented human resource pool, largely Filipinos in the Visayas and Mindanao who flock to Cebu instead of studying and then working in Manila.
“We are rich in the pool of talents, producing about 25,000 graduates a year. And the schools... focus on the needs of the present sector,” said Prudencio Gesta, president Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI).
Gesta noted that Cebu also offers talents for design sector, particularly in furniture, accessory, web design, and animation.
“There are also vast talents and opportunities for this sector,” he said, adding that the chamber wants to focus on growing this sector in the next years.
“Focus on the creative or design sector started last year,” Lito Maderazo, CCCI vice president for finance and administration, noted.
“And we would like to see this improve in terms of investment exports volume,” he added.
The CCCI is setting up a creative sector booth for the Annual Conference of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) on March 14 to 15 at Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City.
CCCI snagged the conference hosting last year – after a fierce, competitive bidding.
Maderazo said the conference, with 500 delegates coming in from different national chambers of commerce from 27 nations of CACCI, is an opportunity for businessmen to shore up investments and build ties with potential foreign investors.
During the conference sessions issues and opportunities on textiles and garments, tourism, chemicals, food and agriculture, water, energy and environment, contracting and construction, SME development, women entrepreneurship, and youth entrepreneurship will be tackled.
Source: GMA News