CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (Oro Chamber) has found new partners for the possible construction of a five-story building serving as a display area-cum-processing plant for coffee, cacao, and cashew products.
Oro Chamber president Raymundo Talimio Jr. said the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ICCP) will initially embark on feasibility studies for the structure's ideal location to boost local farmers’ products through the facility called “3Cs Museum.”
“On the ground floor, we plan to have a showroom of the locally made products, and on the upper levels the production floor for coffee, cacao, and cashew,” Talimio said in an interview Tuesday.
Talimio said this would not only benefit the local farmers in the city but also those from nearby provinces and regions.
He said the Department of Science and Technology has shown interest in supporting the project with innovation technology incubation, and with the Embassy of India in supporting the development of cashew farming and production in the city.
“Pueblo de Oro (Development Corporation) has also signified about allowing part of its nature reserve (property) for feasibility (study) on whether it can be planted with cacao,” Talimio said.
He said the 3C's museum has long been planned by the Oro Chamber, but it only recently found its footing after talks with ICCP at the recent Mindanao Business Conference in May this year.
Mindanao Food Congress
On Monday afternoon, Talimio joined several sectoral representatives in the city and Misamis Oriental province to solicit recommendations for the food and agriculture industry.
Reuben Vegafria, Oro Chamber's past president and chairperson of this year's Mindanao Food Congress and Oro Best Expo, said the recommendations will be presented to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as one of the guests for the October 26-30 event.
“We almost have all provinces and urban cities joining in this event, we only need final confirmation from Bukidnon, and we will visit Camiguin province,” he said.
Vegafria said they talked with the newly elected Bukidnon Gov. Oneil Roque recently, and will also talk with Camiguin Gov. Xavier Jesus Romualdo soon about the Congress, which aims to present modern practices in agriculture and food supply chain networks in Mindanao.
He hoped that under the Marcos administration, new policies will be introduced especially in subsidizing the agricultural inputs so that farmers will not be burdened to increase the harvest prices for suppliers.
The Oro Best Expo and Food Congress will be partnered with the Embassy of India, which Vegafria said, is the first in the history of the Oro Chamber in organizing such an event.
“We only have local partners before, when we talked with the Indian Embassy, they said they don't just want to be convenors but partners in this event,” he said. (PNA)
