Last week, we called for Ilonggo businesses to start the recovery conversation if we wish to cushion the economic impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic. We are happy to report that that call did not fall on deaf ears and many of our friends have reached out and signified their interest to join that conversation. That is the Ilonggo spirit!

There have been many initiatives among the business sectors and other volunteer groups to help large enterprises as well as small and medium sized entrepreneurs survive the crisis. In fact, webinars and online forums have sprouted here and there, talking about different topics that give recommendations on how to recover from the hard hit of the lockdown. The only limitation with these conversations is that they only cover businesses who play in the national capital market. There is a dearth of talks and resources that are applicable to our local business environment. 

It is not to say that we do not have qualified resource speakers and panelists here in Iloilo. We have a lot, as one of the business organization leaders intimated with us in a chat some evenings ago. We just need to organize a forum, put together a platform, and draw the roadmap of the conversation. 

What do we talk about?

So what do we talk about? This is an important question to answer. Conversation on our current situation may be overwhelming. The discussion that we need to take must be structured to address first the fundamental concerns of our local businesses. 

Maybe we can begin with identifying which sectors are badly affected. What kind of help do they need? How can we respond? What resources do they need today and tomorrow so they may continue to survive and thrive? How do we help them rebuild their businesses? What kind of roadmap can we draw to help them recover as soon as possible? How do we pave the way to recovery? 

From our initial conversation with friends who are willing to pitch in their ideas in this conversation, the top of mind sectors that may need help are agriculture, tourism, retail, and food industries. Of course, there could be so much more. 

Logistics as key issue

One key issue that needs to be discussed is market access. How do we reconnect our producers’ supplies to the market? Now that we are in a lockdown, we definitely feel the discomfort caused by limited mobility and disrupted delivery of goods. Fish and other sea produce from the North need to have special delivery trip to the Central towns thanks to the efforts of Mayor Raul Banias of Concepcion and the mayors of the 5th District. Products were moved via informal channels; now the question is how do we scale this up and institutionalize the infrastructure?

The same conversation is also necessary for other farm products. How do we efficiently bring high value vegetables from the mountains of Leon and Alimodian not only to Iloilo City but also maybe, down to the South in San Joaquin, or up North to Carles? 

How about supplies for raw materials? How about the movement of goods to kick-off production and retail? What logistical support can we give our retail sector should they begin to shift to online selling and e-commerce? 

As we mentioned in our column last week, the crisis has brought to us a new world order and what may have worked in the past may no longer be effective in the new normal. We may need to unlearn what we knew to have worked well in the past. We may need to look at things with fresher eyes after we emerge from this quarantine. It is no longer business as usual. Status quo is dead.

How do we use technology? What innovation are we capable of to support these new needs? What kind of support can our local start-ups share given their agile mindset? 

There are so many questions that beg urgent answers. We look forward to finding the best insights, arguments, data, and wisdom from Ilonggo business thinkers and movers in a conversation that is set to happen soon.