Eastern Visayas was the host region in the three-day Visayas Area Business Conference participated by businessmen from Regions 6, 7, 8 and Metro Manila held from April 19 to 20 at the SMED Center, Tacloban City and April 21 at Calicoan Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar. The conference focused on Eco-tourism, Processed Foods and Packaging, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The Leyte Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) spearheaded the affair with the Regional Development Council (RDC) VIII as one of its sponsors.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the keynote speaker during the third day of the Conference at Calicoan. She called Calicoan as “ a paradise in Eastern Visayas ” and called Guiuan as “ the gateway to Eastern Samar development ”. She said that “niche tourism” is one of the priorities of her administration and surfing tourism is a priority niche tourism. She mentioned Guiuan as an important part of niche tourism.

One side of Calicoan has waves ideal for surfing...

According to Atty. Manuel Go of East-West Holdings, Inc., “Calicoan is more than Boracay”. Calicoan offers not only beaches but it also has a surfing camp, numerous caves for spelunking, virginal forests for nature trekking and rock/wall climbing, abundant wildlife, isolated virginal coves, beautiful lagoons and lakes, fishing areas and colorful history.

On the second day of the Conference, Mr. Veneeth Iyengar of Teletech Philippines spoke about Opportunities in the Call Center Industry . According to him, Teletech can help investors here get started with a “ Mini Call Center ” (30-seater) or Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) such as medical/legal transcription, data encoding, accounting and payroll processing and animation. Teletech can also help in the accounts and training aspect and in securing contracts abroad.

Isolated virginal coves at Calicoan

Mr. Raul Hernandez, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Vice President for SME, spoke on the Prospects for the Food Processing Industry . He emphasized on the need for packaging and “branding” in order to compete in the “ battle of products”.

This year's Conference themes are very much aligned with the region's development thrusts as reflected in the 2004-2010 Regional Development Plan.

Calicoan has numerous large caves...a spelunker's delight