Naga preps for 18th Bicol Business Month

By Jason B. Neola

The business sector here believes that last week’s celebration of the Peñafrancia fiesta would give rise to more opportunities for the industry just like in the pre-pandemic period.

Sharing the same view with the local businessmen, Mayor Nelson Legacion expressed hope that there will be no surge again in Covid-19 cases after the conduct of the Marian festival in his city.

“It is my fervent hope that there will be no swelling again in number of Covid-19 ahead so that our local businesses and the city’s tourism industry, the hard hit by Covid-19 disruption, will be able to boost their operations and recover from their losses,” he said.

The mayor reported that the number of active Covid-19 cases in the city before and during the festival remains in single digit. “The Department of Health recorded only 2 incidents during which the number of infected persons rose to 11 and 12 (September 14 and 16, respectively) when Scouts Parade and DXLC competition, and the Bicol Regional Military Parade were held.

After the September Marian feast, Naga is prepping for another big event in October, this year, the Bicol Business Month (BBM), an annual business activity of the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI), which aims to reinvent further the city as the center of commerce and trade in the Bicol Region.

Mario Villanueva, MNCCI president, said that with this year’s theme – Retune and remake to the new normal – everyone should feel inspired to move forward.

Villanueva, who also heads the Metro Naga Tourism Council, said that everyone must take the good things from the pandemic even as he called on his colleagues in both organizations to learn the lessons that change has brought, saying that even a small degree of change will surely have a big impact on how life will be in the future.

In collaboration with the city government, the MNCCI showcases and promotes thru the BBM the best of Bicol technologies, products and services, highlights investments opportunities for the region’s economic growth and development, and provides new opportunities by way of business matching with entrepreneurs from the 6 Bicol provinces and other regions.

This year’s BBM will reel off with the following activities:

1. The Farmers Forum, October 6 to 8, 2022 at Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum or at the Naga City Hall grounds (the MNCCI has yet to confirm the definite venue of this activity on or before September 26, 2022)

2. The Best of Bicol Tourism and Trade Fair, October 7 to 9, 2022 at the SM City Naga

3. The Agribusiness Support of the Promotion and Investment in Regional Expositions (ASPIRE), October 14 to 16, 2022 (SM City Naga)

4. Car Show, October 27 to 29, 2022 (Plaza Quezon)

5. The Bicol Digital Congress 2022, November 10 to 12, 2022 at the Avenue Plaza Hotel.