CBM 2018 to integrate confabs into one summit

The Cebu Business Month next year will have one big summit that will discuss the sectors driving Cebu’s economy such as business process outsourcing (BPO), information and communications technology (ICT) and tourism.

In a recent interview, CBM 2018 chair Benedict Que said they want to integrate all the conferences for entrepreneurship, BPO-ICT and tourism into a one big summit which will probably be a two-day event.

Next year's CBM will have a theme "Innovate Cebu".

This summit will center on innovating these sectors amid the ever changing business environment brought about by digitalization.

"Unlike the previous years, we used to have one event for every sector. This time, we'll have a one big event for these sectors," said Que, president and CEO of Golden Prince Hotel and Suites.

He said they've observed people attending these events are more likely the same so it would be wise to integrate it instead.

The CBM chair also said the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) is also looking you invite chambers of commerce from other countries like China.

"We'd like to invite them to come and join us," he said.

CBM is the biggest annual event of CCCI, where conferences, trade shows, among other events, are held during the month of June.

CBM this year had a theme STEP UP CEBU (Sustainable Technology, Entrepreneurship & Productivity for the Upliftment of Cebu), which sought a strategic innovation of bringing Cebu businesses at the level of competitive advantage, resilient and sustainable in the global market.

In 2016, CBM also adopted the "Digital Cebu" theme which focused on digital transformation of business in an aim to tap the digital-driven global economy.

For the past three years, the month-long business celebration had centered its theme on digitalization and innovation amid the changes the modern technology has brought to the business world.

To date, CCCI has over 900 member companies.