-- Muhtar Kent
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The Philippine Council Management (Philcoman) has hailed the Iloilo City Government in the Philippines for making “the boldest gesture to invade the prime cities of America” saying “this is the great moment of bringing in the Iloilo Trade Mission here in New York.”
Speaking before US-based businessmen, investors, and Filipino-American entrepreneurs, fashion enthusiasts, and students during the Iloilo City Trade Mission and Investment Forum at the Kalayaan Hall in the Philippine Center June 4, Dr. Emily Noserale, president and project coordinator of Philcoman Research Institute, Inc., emphasized that under the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte, “all the bright and good things (are) happening.”
She considered as “very timely today” their presence in big cities of the United States to showcase their latest development efforts to present to American people where Iloilo City now, in terms of political, economic, social aspects as well as the status of the “flourishing and expanding business activities that are now producing great results in the social and economic lives of the Ilonggos.”
RICE GRANARY
She described Iloilo as “the food basket and grice granary of Western Visayas” where high value crops, livestocks and sea products are in Iloilo City.
“Hence there is a great potential by capitalizing on connectivity and networks to companies for food processing and agricultural trans-shipment,” she explained in underscoring agri-business and acquaculture.
Noserale said logistics and transportations are important pillars that will support the food and agriculture businesses in highlighting infrastructure.
“As Iloilo has restructured its economy by enhancing innovation and moving up the value chain, we could also explore opportunities in info-communication technologies,” she stressed. “Explore on how data and analytics could be used to create smart solutions that can improve the lives of its citizens.”
Noserale emphasized tourism “an area which holds significant opportunity.”
“Visitor arrivals continued to grow as the famous Dinagyang Festival is held yearly with so much fun and frolic. Visitors almost flocked to the city not to miss this vibrant and diverse festival culture,” she explained.
“Hotels, inns and transient houses are almost fully booked. To meet this growing demand from tourist, infrastructure in the hospitality industry will be important.”
She said Iloilo’s century-old churches that are well-maintained, which proudly stand ans signify the deep faith of the Ilonggos, are another attractions.
SCHOOLS
In academe, Noserale said Iloilo has lists of universities, colleges, state universities and vocational schools that “generate economic development to play an integral role in furthering economic growth and thereby pursuing socio-economic goals by transferring knowledge to society.”
She said: “They share a role in securing the future labor force by fostering knowledge, analytical thinking, broad capabilities and technical skills on our young people.”
“In addition,” she pointed out, “the ingenuity of the Ilonggos adds more color in creating beauty to the native products of Iloilo City like hablon and making jewelries with sculptured design.”
Some of Noserale’s discussions centered on recent developments in Iloilo.
These were:
-The River Esplanade, a 1.2-kilometer park, which forms as heritage zone; Gothic-Renaissance Molo church built in 1831; and American Governor Carpenter bridge, which connects Molo and Mandurriao districts;
-The Iloilo Business Park, a 72-hectare area managed by Megaworld, which hosts BPO office towers, a mall, Richmonde Hotel, The Courtyard by Marriott, and Iloilo Convention Center;
-Atria Park District, a 21-hectare area by Ayala Land with Ayala Technohub. Underdevelopment are Seda Hotel and Avida Towers;
-The Gaisano City Center, a 16-hectare are which will include a 40-storey Gaisano Tower;
-The Jalaur River Multipurpose Project, a mega project worth P11.2 billion funded by Korea and the biggest project outside of Luzon targeted for completion this year. It will provide irrigation to 31,849 hectares of farmland, delivers 86,000 cubic meters of bulk water a day to water-scarce Iloilo City, mitigates flooding as well as foster eco-tourism.
Iloilo has several major industrial plants: Two sugar mills, one flour mill, and at least four feedmills. Future developments in agriculture could spur agri-manufacturing industries.
FLIGHTS
There are flights to Singapore and to Hongkong via Cebu Pacific; there are five flights daily to Manila via Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines (PAL).
There are also scheduled flights from Iloilo to different places in the Philippines as Iloilo is one of the busiest airports in the Visayas and Mindanao, after Cebu.
Iloilo ranked number eight as the Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City; it is ranked number 98 in the Global Top 100 Outsourcing cities and has made it to the list of 50 Aspiring Cities around the globe for its high potential to become ideal hub for BPO investments.
Iloilo also ranked number 12 in Asia’s Best Airport.
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