On August 3-5, 2016, Tuguegarao City served as host to more than 150 delegates of the 25th North Luzon Area Business Conference (NLABC) of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) who came from Regions I, II, III, and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

The NLABC is an annual gathering of business enablers, entrepreneurs, government executives, and members of the academe to discuss issues that will boost the business environment in Northern Luzon towards a sustainable local economy.

With the theme “Moving Forward through GIANT STEPS”, this year’s conference served as a venue for the PCCI to promote their economic and governance reform program called GIANT STEPS which stands for Good governance, Infrastructures, Agriculture, New era in manufacturing, and Tourism through Science and Technology, Education, People skills, and Sources of financing.

In his opening statement, PCCI Human Resources Development Foundation President Dr. Alberto P. Fenix, Jr. said GIANT STEPS is PCCI’s platform for addressing and improving the country’s business environment.

“With GIANT STEPS as the centerpiece of our policy agenda, we will work on the sustainability of enterprises through decreased costs and processes of doing business, on spurring countryside development, and on promoting human resource development, among others,” Dr. Fenix said.

He added that “the PCCI is also grateful and proud of this theme as it sits well with the thrusts of the Duterte Administration and it hopes to play a vital role in seeing to it that we attract foreign investments and support the expansion of local enterprises and industries.”

“Obviously, more needs to be done to make our economic gains more inclusive,” Dr. Fenix averred. “We need to aim for economic growth that is investment-led rather than consumption-driven to create more jobs and raise workers’ productivity and income.”

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, the newly installed Chairman of the Senate Committee on agriculture and food, delivered the keynote message and lauded PCCI’s economic agenda as agriculture was at the center.

He expressed his strong belief that if farmers and fisherfolk will gain higher incomes, they will have a better capacity to purchase material goods – both basic needs and even simple luxuries.

“Naturally, our factories will need to produce more because of a high demand, and then they will need to hire more workers, which would mean available employment for a huge portion of our labor force,” said the Senator, who served as the presidential assistant on food security and agricultural modernization under the Aquino administration.

To reinforce the importance of agriculture in local development, Dr. William D. Dar, another agriculture stalwart and former Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary, gave a presentation about harnessing the potentials of the agriculture industry in North Luzon.

Other lectures and presentations during the conference proper were along infrastructure development, opportunities for local enterprises, enterprise development initiatives for SMEs, and alternative dispute resolution for business.

The three-day activity opened with a North Luzon Trade Expo at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Tuguegarao City and a management workshop for PCCI’s North Luzon officers.

On the third day, the delegates participated in a business guided tour of local establishments engaged in corn and livestock development such as the Philippine Carabao Center, the Cagayan State University – Piat campus, the DA Breeding Station, and other private farms.#