Cebu biz chamber pushes for green entrepreneurship

CEBU, Philippines - In line with its thrust to promote Cebu as an investment hub in the country, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) will encourage green entrepreneurship towards sustainable business growth and global competitiveness as one of the priority areas for its Cebu Business Month (CBM) 2013 this June. Department of Trade and Industry provincial director Nelia Navarro who chairs the entrepreneurship committee for this year’s celebration said that it is time to work on Cebu’s goal towards green destination, green investments, green jobs, green products, green services, green manufacturing and green economy. She added that activities that could add investments to the locality and allow entrepreneurs to maintain profit for businesses to grow are encouraged but careful management of environmental resources should also be practiced at the same time. “Although Cebu entrepreneurs should meet the needs of the present market, they have to make sure that they do not compromise the ability of the next generation to cater to their demands in the future. They could continue generating innovative products without putting harm in the environment,” she said during the recent CBM 2013 launching at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu. She further cited that businessmen should ensure proper maintenance of valuable resources for marine, agriculture and tourism. She added that energy efficiency measures that will lower the energy cost should be implemented to decrease the production cost of businesses and improve competitiveness. Navarro then noted that green economy aims to promote sustainable production, consumption and entrepreneurship. She also said that the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector should be at the forefront towards such advocacy since the segment is considered to be vulnerable to environmental issues. During the CBM 2013, MSMEs will be showcased during the EKO Fest that will be conducted at SM City Cebu Northwing from June 15 to 19 while the EKO Entrepreneurship Conference will be at Radisson Blu Hotel on June 19. With the theme “Cebu – the hub of sustainable lifestyle in the Philippines”, it aims to promote Cebu as the country’s green destination and to establish a paradigm shift among small-scale businesses and organizations on the new platform for entrepreneurship. Earlier, CCCI officials launched the CBM 2013 that is also in line with the celebration of the chamber’s 110th anniversary this year. It will mainly focus on the fastest-growing priority sectors and economic pillars of the local economy which include tourism, information and communications technology and business process outsourcing (ICT-BPO), entrepreneurship and creative industries. The month-long event will run from June 1 to 28 with the theme “Experience Cebu’s Creative Industries, ICT and BPO, Tourism and Entrepreneurship towards Powering Up for Global Business (Excite Cebu)”.