Industry stakeholders draft AEC gameplan

CEBU, Philippines – Although the private sector had been working ahead in terms of preparations for the opening of the ASEAN Economic Community, business leaders want to collaborate further with the government as the integration draws near.

"We already started to partner with the government in crafting the roadmap. I plan for the chamber to lead it. We have to in order to grab the opportunities ahead of us," said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ma. Teresa Chan.

Chan said the private sector in Cebu will be more involved in its participation in the national industry roadmap for industries, while Cebu and region has already made action plan based on the identified priority sectors.

Based on the recommendation of the Regional Development Council Central Visayas, the action plan will focus on priority industries which include; retail trade, creative, manufacturing, food and agriculture, logistics, Information-Communication and Technology and tourism.

Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan Joseph said that while the private sector sees no problem in working hand-in-hand with the government to ensure the implementation of the roadmap, the government however also has to do its part.

The Department of Trade and Industry along with the Board of Investments yesterday conducted a forum dubbed "Industry Roadmaps for the ASEAN Economic Community Game Plan; Regional Roadmaps for Competitiveness," at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel.

"Local enterprises have to step up and participate in the regional and global value chains. We all need to work together to gain a sound understanding of the impact of global policy reforms in industrial development and to ensure that rural communities, particular MSME, benefit from the ASEAN integration," said DTI undersecretary for regional group operations Zenaida C. Maglaya.

Maglaya emphasized the importance of private sector participation in crafting the industry roadmaps for competitiveness, saying the government is just providing enabling environment for them to implement the roadmaps as well as facilitate and coordinate with different agencies and linkages.

At present, the government is adopting the "bottom-up" approach in policy reforms, which means that changes in the policies should come from the stakeholders of different industries, thus strong participation from players is encouraged.

DTI-7 regional director Asteria Caberte said that the region is ready to submit the action plan for the identified priority sectors to be incorporated in the national roadmap.

The forum in Cebu yesterday gathered close to 300 stakeholders from the private sector, government, and the academe. The activity aimed to inform stakeholders of the benefits and challenges of the ASEAN integration with emphasis on the importance of developing industry roadmaps in the regions.