With the reopening of economy
TACLOBAN CITY– The business sector in Leyte province is optimistic that with the reopening of the economy after two years of lockdown, they could now recover the losses that they have suffered.
On Tuesday (Nov. 15), businessmen belonging to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tacloban-Leyte Inc. gathered for a two-day business conference wherein they are expected to tackle issues affecting the sector amid the pandemic.
Eugene Tan, the president of the group of more than 100 businessmen in Leyte and Tacloban City, said that they are optimistic that they could recover the losses that they have incurred for the past two years.
He, however, admitted that the period might take some time before they could say that they have fully recovered.
“During the pandemic, definitely there was a slowdown of business by about 50%. Now, that we are slowly reopening, we can’t say that we will immediately recover in terms of loss of revenues and business opportunities,” Tan said.
“It will take at least five years before we can say that businesses are fully recovered just like what happened when we were hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda,” he added, referring to the massive typhoon that hit Leyte nine years ago.
Tan said that despite of the losses that they have suffered, the business sector in Leyte and Tacloban City were able to do their share in helping the people and health workers during the pandemic.
He said that they were able to raised P3 million which they partly used to donate PPEs and other medical supplies during the height of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Meantime, as part of the activities of the business conference, at least 42 business outlets joined a job fair offering at least 1,000 employment.
By conducting the job fair, the business group could help the government in addressing the unemployment problem, Tan said.
JOEY A. GABIETA
