MINDANAO DAILY FEATURE TRUTH. JUSTICE. PROGRESS.
Wed-Thu, September 9-10, 2020
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HIGHLIGHTS of the 29th MINDANAO BUSINESS CONFERENCE 2020
THIS is the first-ever virtual Mindanao Business Conference and it is expected to bring in a much bigger audience through a series of online conferences in September and October. MINBIZCON aims to boost business confidence as the region journey to the new normal. MINBIZCON 2020 will highlight Mindanao’s role in bolstering manufacturing and achieving food security in the Philippines in the new normal. The keynote speaker for the event will be Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. DAY 1 (Thursday, September 10) The first round of sessions will highlight the role of Mindanao as the food basket and an emerging manufacturing hub in the Philippines. Towards A More Resilient Agriculture in Mindanao DA Sec. William Dar will discuss Mindanao’s position as the country’s food hub. Guest Panelists: ECCP Southern Mindanao Business Council Chair Antonio Peralta and PCCI Director of Agriculture Roberto Amores. Levelling Up Mindanao’s Manufacturing Sector Board of Investments Governor Napoleon Concepcion and Senate Committee on Economic Affairs chairperson . Imee Marcos will discuss the opportunities in Mindanao’s manufacturing sector. Guest Panelists: Holcim Philip-
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Among the resolutions to be presented by PCCI Mindanao during the MinBizCon to build Health Care Capacity are for DOH to partner with Philippine Red Cross and other private hospitals in establishing an RT-PCR Testing and Confirmatory Labs in Highly Urbanized and 1st Class Provinces all over Mindanao; for DOH, DA, and DTI to grant workers employed in the food supply chain in Mindanao (production, manufacturing and logistics) first priority in mass screening, contact tracing, access to quarantine facilities and vaccines to ensure its stability and unhampered operation; and for DICT and IATF to spearhead the aggregation of contact tracing solutions using digital technologies, cell site triangulation and location methods, and whatever further means deemed necessary, which could impact on the effective tracing of Covid 19 cases in the country and subsequent treatment of infected individuals. “What is happening now depends on response of stakeholders. Everybody is affected and we have to look at solutions and our current systems to be more efficient. These are what we want to ask government through the IATF given the quarantine restrictions effect on business, which are not all measurable, but if not managed well can have a great impact also on business.”
pines Inc. SVP-Head of Sales William Sumalinog and Oro Chamber President Robertino E. Pizarro. DAY 2 (Friday, September 11) Updates on Mindanao Infrastructure Network DPWH Sec. Mark Villar will give updates on major infrastructure projects. Tourism Road Map Under the New Normal PCCI Committee on Tourism, Retail, and Franchising chair Samie Lim will talk about the challenges and prospects in the travel sector. Innovation and the Digital Economy Alibaba Cloud Intelligence International president Ms. Selina Yuan will present the best innovation practices under the new
normal. Guest Panelist: CocaCola Beverages Philippines, Inc. CEO & president Mr. Gareth McGeown. Mindanao Road Map Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) chairman Sec. Emmanuel Piñol will give a preview on the “Mindanao Road Map.” Representatives from the private sector will also get to react to the speakers’ messages and share their key takeaways and learnings. In the subsequent sessions in October, delegates will get to to join the series of webinars that will tackle the following topics: Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) (October 1) Innovation: Key to Mindanao’s New Normal (October 9)
Ease of Doing BusinessARTA (October 16) Opportunities in the Halal Industry (October 23) Export Opportunities for Agri Products (October 30). Takeaways - We are open for Investment and will Leverage on Food Production, Asean proximity through the BIMP-Eaga and our capability to host Manufacturing of Health Care Products and Other Essential Goods. Emerging ICT and Property Sector in Key Cities in Mindanao can help entry of New Investments For a ONE-TIME registration fee of P500, participants (regular or nonchamber members) will get to join the series of web conferences.
Food Basket “Mindanao is a food basket and we would like to highlight this in MinBizCon and the so many opportunities in agriculture. We even have surplus here which we can share with Visayas and Luzon although our main hold is for food security. “Right now we can leverage on those things and invite investors to look at Mindanao as an area of investment and we are especially looking at the Brunei DarussalamIndonesia-MalaysiaPhilippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) as one of our partners for the continued trading of goods and services. With that we have highlighted agriculture and manufacturing. We can be a hub here in the Philippines considering our proximity to the ASEAN markets. Addressing Security However, Alegrio admits much remains to be done especially given Mindanao’s reputation as a conflict area which affects everyone on the island even how distant their respective areas may be from conflict areas.
“It’s unfair for all Mindanaoans to be branded as such but we certainly need to improve in a lot of things especially the cost of doing business, but the peace and order problem is very much contained here and that can be attributed. In 2018, even BARMM had a growth of 7.2% and other regions like Davao, Northern Mindanao and even Zamboanga were having a very positive growth rates.” And although some companies have closed down during the pandemic, Alegrio said the situation in Mindanao involves the manufacturing of a lot of essential products that have continued operations such as Philagro, Del Monte, and Dole Phils. “Seaports and airports are already busy. Hope this will not get to the point where more manufacturing firms will close, which is why PCCI is pushing for the passage of the CREATE bill to allow companies options to repurpose fiscal and nonfiscal incentives made available to them.” MinBizCon In light of the CO-
VID-19 crisis and the nationwide restriction on travel, organizers of the 29th Mindanao Business Conference decided to transform one of the biggest and most anticipated business events in Mindanao into an online conference. With the theme “Mindanao: Journeying to the New Normal,” MinBizCon 2020 is expected to bring in a much bigger audience through live streaming on September 10-11, 2020. The first-ever virtual MinBizCon is co-organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII). MinBizCon is an annual event organized by the PCCI that aims to create an avenue for top businessmen, key industry players, government executives, and other private sector leaders to discuss economic concerns and opportunities in Mindanao, which will eventually lead to the crafting of better policies and strategies for the development of the region. (PCCI Mindanao)
