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Philexport Cebu to hold Exporters’ PowWOW! 2010 |
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Written by Federico Escalona
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Thursday, 11 November 2010 |
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Philexport Cebu will hold an Exporters’ PowWOW! 2010 on November 18, 2010 at the newly-inaugurated Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City. The event will coincide with DTI’s OVIF or OTOP Visayas Island Fair which runs from November 17 to 21, 2010 at the SM City Mall.
A “powwow” is a typical American Indian native ceremony or ritual that celebrates victory in war. It can also mean a social get-together or a meeting to discuss issues of common interest.
The board of trustees of Philexport Cebu decided to go for a unique format for the event which is expected to attract around 250 participants coming from the different exporting sectors, government enablers, donor partners, suppliers, local export consultants and other industry stakeholders. It has invited experienced motivational speakers as well as interesting speakers who can offer new ideas and solutions on financing and marketing. Two exporters, who did well during the recession, will also share their experiences and best practices.
The export industry is facing very challenging times after succumbing to the dire effects of the 2-year long financial crisis. The sectors are currently dealing with the prospects of further appreciation of the PESO against the US Dollar, the high cost of power and fuel, rising wages that are not peg to productivity, the strong inflow of portfolio funds or “hot money”, trade imbalances and stiff competition from other emerging market players.
Although the electronics and semi-conductor sectors have fully recovered from the effects of the global recession, some sectors especially outside the economic zones, have continued to struggle to survive it.
The powwow’s objective is to motivate and inspire exporters in the Central Visayas region. It will also offer exporters alternatives and new ideas on how to win the export wars in the next decade. Philexport hopes that, through fine-tuning of marketing tactics and re-engineering of manufacturing processes, it can contribute to helping exporters arrive at a more strategic market approach that will also cover new and emerging markets all over the world, and not only the traditional but overcrowded markets they now trade with.
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