Leaders from the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Talisay City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Lapu-Lapu Chamber of Commerce and Industry met on Dec. 9, 2025 to craft strategies that would push for long-term reforms and reinforce Cebu’s most critical industry ecosystems.
These groups also want closer coordination in investments, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, and disaster-response capacities—areas seen as essential to sustaining Cebu’s economic momentum.
Strengthening industry links
Among the ecosystem-based development models being studied are those used in Thailand and Malaysia, where the government and business sector jointly build clusters of suppliers, training institutions, and support services around strategic sectors.
The coalition hopes to adopt a similar approach to reinforce and expand Cebu’s core competitive strengths —among them shipbuilding, manufacturing, tourism, agri-food, and the creative industries.
“This is a united initiative. The private sector has to bond together. We cannot remain fragmented if we want Cebu to protect and strengthen its industry ecosystems,” said CCCI president Jay Yuvallos.
He pointed out that Cebu must design programs to help small and medium enterprises enter supplier networks, citing Thailand’s supplier-acceleration programs and Malaysia’s SME clustering as potential templates.
Strengthening collective preparedness
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Mark Ynoc, for his part, said their goal is to build a unified private sector capable of protecting Cebu’s growth pillars amid uncertainty and global competition.
The emerging coalition is consolidating efforts under Task Force Padayon Cebu, a private-sector disaster-response mechanism created to accelerate coordination during typhoons and earthquakes.
The task force is composed of the different chambers as well as Cebu Contractors Association, the Philippine Red Cross, Rotary Clubs of Cebu, Hotel, Hotel Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu Inc. and various sectoral and business associations across Cebu.
It was created in October, following the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Cebu on Sept. 30, to provide a unified response, particularly during rehabilitation and rebuilding.
Strengthening this platform is part of protecting growth sectors from operational and supply-chain disruptions.
“It’s not just relief. It’s about helping communities—especially small businesses—rebuild faster,” Yuvallos said.
Driving priority sectors
The four business chambers plan to identify priority sectors for rapid scaling. Early discussions highlight shipbuilding, manufacturing and tourism/MICE (meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition) as Cebu’s “must-protect” economic engines.
Shipbuilding—strengthened by local training institutions—is considered the sector closest to having a fully developed value chain.
Manufacturing hubs such as Mactan Ecozone in Lapu-Lapu City and West Cebu Industrial Park in Balamban town are positioned for expansion through intensified supplier development.
Tourism competitiveness, meanwhile, could be boosted through stricter standards on safety, food handling and local sourcing.
The chambers also stressed the need to deepen academic-industry collaboration, citing a pilot program with the Private Sector Advisory Council expanding on-the-job training for senior high school students.
Yuvallos said this is foundational to building a true ecosystem.
“Industry must be involved in shaping the workforce.”
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