The Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc. has landed in the list of Top 5 Chambers of Commerce throughout the world.
This was learned Thursday during the International Chamber of Commerce and World Chambers Federation’s Chamber Awards Competition held in Sydney, Australia.
The NOCCI was chosen as finalist in the Best Job Creation and Business Development Category from a pool of 53 chambers from 27 countries.
NOCCI initially tied with the Business West Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom but the judges eventually chose the latter.
“In the end, the board of judges had to break the tie,” NOCCI President Edward Du said in an email to the MetroPost.
Du likened the competition to a David and Goliath match as the Business West Chambers of the UK has 22,000 members, in contrast to NOCCI’s 169 local businessmen.
The NOCCI delegation, headed by Du, was composed of six officers and members. The other delegates were Atty. Florence Tangente, Robert Dy, Stella Solon-Du, Executive Director John Jalandoni, and Asst. Prov’l. Administrator Atty. Froilan Pinili. They were also joined by Terry Yamson and Paul Montenegro.
Du has led the NOCCI for nearly 10 years, taking over the reins from businessman Manuel Sagarbarria, who had to relinquish the post after he was elected Dumaguete mayor.
Du steered the NOCCI to garner a string of awards, particularly in the last two years where the Chamber was chosen back-to-back as Best Chamber in the Visayas, and Best Chamber in the Philippines, beating other chambers from bigger cities.
This year, the NOCCI was chosen as Best Chamber in the Asia-Pacific during the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce meeting in Taiwan, qualifying them for the international competition.