Cebu SMEs go green

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 23:58

SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) based in Cebu are now upgrading to green processes and products as the province bids to become a major source of eco-friendly home and lifestyle goods for the global market. Through a P75-million funding support from the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) and the German organization Sequa gGmbH, 450 Cebu-based SMEs are now getting free advisory services on sustainable consumption and production under the SMEs for Environmental Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (SMART) Cebu project. The project officially started on Monday with the deployment of 15 energy-efficiency “counsellors” and 10 clean-production experts to guide the SMEs on how they can make their manufacturing processes cleaner and more efficient. “The P75-million SMART Cebu fund is a first-of-a-kind project in the Philippines that is aimed at launching Cebu in the global market as an upcoming source of green home and lifestyle products,” the ECCP said. The ECCP expects the project to provide a new foundation for Cebu’s future industrial growth and secure a new image for Cebu as the green export capital of the country. Direct beneficiaries of the project are SMEs in the furniture and furnishing business; fashion accessories; and gifts, toys and houseware. The project is expected to help Cebu industries enter new and fast-growing markets in Europe focused on green and sustainable-living products.

Nursing review’s entry in Cebu to bolster profession abroad

Written by Wilfredo Rodolfo III / Reporter

Wednesday, 30 June 2010 00:02

THE position of Cebu as a center for nursing education in southern Philippines is getting a boost with the continued entry of National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) review providers in the region. The issue on declining nursing graduate quality provided by some colleges and universities in the Philippines is making the role of these providers more vital, according to All Generation (Allgen) reviewer and chief executive officer Bella Portia Ross. Ross said although there are several outstanding universities and colleges offering nursing courses in Cebu, they should be supported by an equally good review center that will pave the way for the graduates’ landing promising jobs abroad, especially in the United States. “Cebu is the center of trade and industry for the southern part of the Philippines. The province has the highest standards in commerce and education. It also offers affordable university rates and produces quality graduates,” Ross said. She said Allgen can adequately and inexpensively house the nursing students across the southern Philippine region, as its facility in Cebu City in uptown Banilad area is within a secured environment, surrounded with numerous food and shopping outlets. Ross underscored that review centers are vital for aspiring nurses. “We need to challenge and inspire them. The students need to be offered the right curriculum, developed and properly reviewed with the highest standard.” Last year the American Hospital Association said more than 5,000 community hospitals in the US need 116,000 registered nurses. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics also projected a shortage of more than 1 million registered nurses by 2010. The demand for Filipino nurses abroad, especially in the US, is expected to surge in the coming years with US President Barack Obama’s signing into law the US health reform bill. According to Ross, Allgen will continue to make efforts to improve its award winning NCLEX review program that will maintain Cebu as a center for nursing licensure review and other overseas employment requirements such as IELTS, or the International English Language Testing System. The continuing demand for Filipino nurses abroad, specifically in the US, will underscore the need for nursing students and newly graduates to seriously study and review to pass any international licensure requirement such as NCLEX.

Government, groups create road map to make Cebu top BPO hub

Written by Wilfredo Rodolfo III / Reporter

Wednesday, 30 June 2010 19:50

THOLONS advisory group and the Cebu City government recently inked an agreement to create a road map for the city’s business process outsourcing (BPO) industry as the region tries to position itself as one of the world’s biggest players in the sector. Tholons managing director for Southeast Asia Jonathan de Luzuriaga said the study has already commenced and should be completed by September this year. “The story of Cebu must be told to the world in such a way as to encourage investors,” de Luzuriaga said. “The study will tell what Cebu is capable of doing.” He said there is also a marketing component in the study where Tholons will assist Cebu in finding its niche and announcing it to the $50-billion worldwide industry. The study will also look at the talent pipeline in the city, the infrastructure available, and the marketing promotions of the city and the industry stakeholders. The UK-based company has named Cebu City as the number-one emerging BPO destination of the world for the second time since 2009. The P3-million project will be funded by the city and through contributions from BPO locators in Cebu, as well as telecommunications companies. This is the first time a study of such magnitude is done in the country. Metro Cebu takes some 20 percent of the total BPO industry in the Philippines, with some 40,000 employees working from call centers to software engineers to animators. Joel Mari Yu, director of the Cebu Investments and Promotions Center, which represents the city in the deal, said the study is essential for the city to grow as an investment location. “On our own, we know our strengths and weaknesses, but we need to see the needs of the world and what our competition is doing, that is what this study will tell us,” Yu said. “We want to know where Cebu is strong at, as we know we cannot be masters of everything. We will need to know why we’re doing what.” BPO stakeholders are excited about the study, especially as they push Cebu more on the higher-value services. Jerry Rapes, chairman of the ICT Congress held in Cebu last week, said Cebu has the capacity to focus on services that need fewer people but generate more revenues—like company backroom services to more technical works like software engineering. “We want to know where we are right now so we will know what to do to become a fully emerged BPO destination,” Rapes said. In Photo: With properties like the newly declared information-technology zone shown here, the Cebu Business Park in Cebu City is primed to become an international business-process outsourcing investments destination. This effort will be given more push with the upcoming study by advisory group Tholons, which will create a road map for the industry in Cebu. (Photo courtesy of Cebu Holdings Inc.)

Ortigas firm goes into leisure farm development

Written by Miguel R. Camus / Reporter

Thursday, 24 June 2010 19:54

CONCRETE Aggregates Corp. (CAC), a listed affiliate of Ortigas & Co. Ltd., is breaking into the property development business via a high-end leisure farm project in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Following the company’s stockholders meeting on Thursday, CAC general manager Emmanuel Rapadas said the firm is estimated to generate gross revenues of P278 million selling 75 to 80 lots in the 10-hectare development called Sto. Tomas Leisure Farms. Shareholders of the company yesterday gave the go-signal for CAC to proceed with the P100-million project, which will be started in the third quarter of the year. Project completion is expected in about eight months. Rapadas said the Batangas project could serve as a model for the company’s other underutilized real-estate assets. CAC also has 63 hectares in Rodriguez, Rizal; 20 hectares in Cardona and 12 hectares in Pampanga which are envisioned as “forward manufacturing bases” before CAC discontinued this business. “We are looking into ways to optimize values of these assets,” Rapadas told reporters yesterday. He said CAC is presently exploring other options for its existing landbank. “What we aspire to do is make use of CAC’s 100 hectares of idle land while lending a hand to the immediate community where its properties are situated,” he added. At present, the company generates the bulk of revenues by leasing its 211-hectare quarry in Angono, Rizal to a group led by cement company Lafarge Holdings (Philippines) Inc. Rapadas said the contract will run until 2023. Alongside the Batangas property development, CAC will also partner with a farm school for Sto. Tomas Leisure Farms. This model originated in Europe and is largely credited for making the continent an agricultural powerhouse. The business model would require the collaboration of four players namely CAC, lot owners, the farm school and an agricultural products distributor. Under this model, lot owners will have 75 percent of land tended by farm students growing high-value crops or green-house vegetables for profit.

Ortigas firm goes into leisure farm development

Written by Miguel R. Camus / Reporter

Thursday, 24 June 2010 19:54

CONCRETE Aggregates Corp. (CAC), a listed affiliate of Ortigas & Co. Ltd., is breaking into the property development business via a high-end leisure farm project in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Following the company’s stockholders meeting on Thursday, CAC general manager Emmanuel Rapadas said the firm is estimated to generate gross revenues of P278 million selling 75 to 80 lots in the 10-hectare development called Sto. Tomas Leisure Farms. Shareholders of the company yesterday gave the go-signal for CAC to proceed with the P100-million project, which will be started in the third quarter of the year. Project completion is expected in about eight months. Rapadas said the Batangas project could serve as a model for the company’s other underutilized real-estate assets. CAC also has 63 hectares in Rodriguez, Rizal; 20 hectares in Cardona and 12 hectares in Pampanga which are envisioned as “forward manufacturing bases” before CAC discontinued this business. “We are looking into ways to optimize values of these assets,” Rapadas told reporters yesterday. He said CAC is presently exploring other options for its existing landbank. “What we aspire to do is make use of CAC’s 100 hectares of idle land while lending a hand to the immediate community where its properties are situated,” he added. At present, the company generates the bulk of revenues by leasing its 211-hectare quarry in Angono, Rizal to a group led by cement company Lafarge Holdings (Philippines) Inc. Rapadas said the contract will run until 2023. Alongside the Batangas property development, CAC will also partner with a farm school for Sto. Tomas Leisure Farms. This model originated in Europe and is largely credited for making the continent an agricultural powerhouse. The business model would require the collaboration of four players namely CAC, lot owners, the farm school and an agricultural products distributor. Under this model, lot owners will have 75 percent of land tended by farm students growing high-value crops or green-house vegetables for profit.