The
number of delegates who have pre-registered for the 22nd Mindanao
Business Conference slated in Davao City from August 8 to 10, 2013 is the
highest so far compared to the past conferences.
“Filipinos
do not really pre-register their attendance to conferences since they prefer to
go directly to the event but I tell you that the pre-registered participants
for this year’s MinBizCon is the highest ever,” 22nd MinBizCon
Conference Director John Gaisano, Jr. said during Monda's Kapihan at SM
City Annex.
Gaisano
said they aim to gather a thousand participants for the Conference, mostly
coming from key industries all over the country and from the economic growth
area of the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean
Growth Area).
The
organizers have previously consulted around 250 businessmen and industry
leaders in five Mindanao regions as to the economic concerns they want to be
presented during the Conference. “What makes this year’s MinBizCon different is
the expected participation of 11 cabinet secretaries who will address the
specific cluster of concerns identified by Mindanao business players and
leaders,” he said.
He
said there is a need to prepare Mindanao’s business sector for bigger markets
abroad considering that the Philippines is set to enter into the Asean Economic
Community (AEC). The AEC aims to merge members of the ASEAN community into a
single market economy. Among its members are the Philippines, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Singapore, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia,
Laos and Vietnam.
However,
Mindanao Development Authority’s (MinDA)Romeo Montenegro said that recurring
issues on power problems, rotating brownouts as well as the short and
long-terms measures which will be undertaken by the government will also be
discussed during the MinBizCon.
Gaisano
said Mindanao produces 40% of the country’s food production requirement and
generates 60% of the country’s exports amounting to P130 Billion. However,
Mindanao also has the greatest number of population and the greatest number of
poor people.
