Working closely with local government units (LGU) and promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) are the major thrusts of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).

Emma Rama, former MCCI second vice-president for external affairs, said Mandaue's business climate would further improve with strengthened LGU-business partnership and established CSR.

Earlier, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes expressed his full support of the chamber's move.

In yesterday's event, Cortes was represented by city administrator Briccio Boholst. Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna was also present in the chamber's MBM official launching.

From Businessworldonline

Cebu City-Planters Development Bank has invested up to P350 million for a 40-hectare small and medium enterprise (SME) industrial park in Naga town, a first-class municipality about 22 kilometers south of this city.

The new industrial zone is within the 25-hectare New Cebu Township One special economic zone developed by MRC Allied Industries, Inc. in Naga.

Jesus P. Tambunting, Plantersbank chairman and chief executive officer, said they were open to buying additional lots from MRC to accommodate more SMEs.

TOURIST arrivals in Cebu went up 24.24 percent in the first four months of the year, according to data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) 7.
From a total of 403,335 in the same period last year, visitor arrivals registered in the province rose to 501,107 early this year. Of the total, 42.97 percent or 214,360 were foreign visitors while domestic travelers reached 286,747.

Koreans continued to top the list of foreign arrivals in Cebu next to the Japanese with 47,228 and tourists from the United States totaling 23,423.
The Koreans, which make up the fastest growing market of the country’s tourism industry, numbered 79,451 from January to April this year, up by 59.37 percent from the 49,852 in the same period last year.
The number of foreign visitors coming from Southeast Asian countries grew 113.61 percent to 6,342 from January to April this year compared to 2,969 in 2006.
Leading the growth in terms of number of tourists is Singapore with 2,928 visitors, followed by Malaysia with 1,504 and Indonesia with 848.

Cebu Entrepreneur and Ng Khai President Wilson Ng's blog about winning in business and in life, Reflections of a Business Driven life, won the best business/entrepreneur category during the Philippine Blog Awards 2007 held at March 31 in the RCBC Towers, Makati.

Another fellow Cebuano, Max won the Best TEchnology Blog for his Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments.  Here is the complete list of awardees:

The 2007 Philippine Blog Awards » Blog Archive » The 2007 Philippine Blog Awards winners

Best Personal Blog: Misteryosa
Best Home & Living Blog: Wifely Steps
Best Socio-Political Blog: Philippine Commentary
Best News & Media Blog: Inside PCIJ
Best Fashion & Lifestyle Blog: Bryanboy: Le Superstar Fabuleux
Podcast of the Year: HappySlip
Best Technology Blog: Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments
Best Business/Entrepreneur Blog: Reflections of a BizDrivenLife
Best Entertainment Blog: Retzwerx
Best Sports & Recreation Blog: Who rides a Vespa?
Best Travel Blog: Ivan About Town
PhotoBlog of the Year: Señor Enrique: Wish You Were Here

Special Awards winners:

Best Blog Design: Far from Neutral Notions
Best Free Custom Theme: Blu3zin3
Best Plugin/Extension: iPap
Best OFW Blog: Kwentong Tambay
Bloggers’ Choice Awards: MarketManila

GLOBAL Knowledge Associates Inc., together
with EC Council Malaysia and Trend Micro, will hold the “First Cebu IT
Security Summit 2007” on Feb. 27 and 28 at SM City Cebu.

The summit, the first of its kind to be held outside Manila, will
tackle various issues, including intellectual property theft, corporate
espionage, hacking, computer forensic investigation, wireless and
network security.

One of the main outputs of the event is the formation of the Cebu
Knights of the Web-Visayas, which will address cyber crimes, threats
and terrorism.

Knights of the Web is the first and only security organization in
Asia that is recognized by the EC Council, an international e-commerce
organization. To date, the Knights of the Web have 250 active members.

Secure DNA PI, the event organizer, said the summit will also
include demonstrations of various tools and techniques in information
technology security. (PR)

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FORESEEING potential boom in Cebu’s oil industry, Thailand’s largest petroleum company opened its first gasoline station in the Visayas.

PTT Philippines Corp. (PTT-PC), a local subsidiary of Thailand-based PTT Public Co. Ltd. (PTT-PCL) that is owned mainly by the Royal Thai Government, opened its first oil depot in Cebu last Jan. 28.

In a document furnished to Sun.Star Cebu, PTT-PC said it chose to open a gasoline station in Lapu-Lapu City due to Cebu’s “highly competent workforce, good infrastructure and sound business environment” — factors that have made the province an “economic powerhouse” in the country.

Siripong Phoungpaka, PTT-PC president and chief executive officer, said the five-million liter depot in Cebu is part of the P3.5- to P4-billion investment that the company will infuse in the country in the next five years under its expansion program.

To further signify its presence in the country, PTT-PC will construct and operate 12 retail outlets in Cebu and has set the construction of 50 pump stations nationwide in the next two years.

As early as now, PTT-PC projects to open 100 to 200 gasoline stations in the country in the next five to 10 years.

The company is also looking at putting up a distribution facility for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a lube oil blending plant and an ethanol plant in the country. However, the company has not yet determined the sites for the facilities.

Phoungpaka said the company is seriously considering transferring one of its LPG facilities in the country. But the raw materials needed for production, such as butane and propane, are not readily available in the market.

PTT-PC has been in the Philippine oil business since 1996 and has formed a joint venture with Coastal Corp., an American company that later merged with El Paso to undertake the joint operation of an oil storage and terminal facility at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The venture is known as the Subic Bay Distribution Inc. (SBDI).

PTT has about four refineries in Thailand, with a total production capacity of 700,000 barrels of oil a day.

PTT-PCL has businesses in Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Hong Kong and China. (MMM)

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INSIDE CEBU By Bobit S. Avila
The Philippine Star 01/15/2007

  Today is the final day for our hosting of the 12th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit and thank God, there were no untoward incidents that occurred despite all those foreign travel warnings and a week-long lousy weather and yes, that bombing in GenSan last week. Early during the preparations for the summit, many doomsayers predicted that our hosting of the ASEAN Summit would fail… but now it turns out that the ASEAN Summit has been "a moment of glory for the Philippines," as stated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), and I fully agree with that statement. Now you can say that these doomsayers were all wrong and they are now eating their own words.

12th ASEAN Summit

Cebu, Philippines—Cebu's booming tourism industry got another boost from visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.

In a press conference this morning at the Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort and Spa, Romulo said that the Chinese official has described Cebu as a "unique corner of paradise."

INQUIRER.net
Last updated 07:05pm (Mla time) 01/10/2007

SEVENTEEN heads of state have confirmed their attendance in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asian summits in Cebu this week, according to a list released by Malacañang.

They are Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Samdech Hun Sen of Cambodia, Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Bouasone Bouphavanh of Laos, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia;