NAGA CITY — With the strong bond it built with private entities and government agencies, the new leadership of the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) believes that it can pursue further the development agenda the previous policy makers have started.

That was emphasized by Engr. Armando Aman, newly installed MNCCI president, who assured the members of the business sector, especially the small and micro-entrepreneurs, that they shall be assisted in their recovery from the onslaughts of Covid-19.

The idea is consistent with what the city government of Naga has been doing under the stewardship of Mayor Nelson Legacion.  The mayor has expressed hopes for a stronger partnership with the new MNCCI leadership. He said he looks forward to a “more strategic and deeper partnership among us [the LGU and the business sector] as we move forward, united and hand-in-hand towards a better future for our Maogmang Lugar.”

In his message during the induction of new MNCCI members and oath-taking of the new set of officers last Friday, Jan. 29, the city mayor commended the members of the sector “in the city’s struggle to survive against the onslaught of typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses, as well as in our unprecedented crusade to keep our local economy afloat in the midst of the present public health crisis.”

Legacion also thanked the businessmen for helping the LGU in its campaign to procure AstraZeneca vaccines for all the Nagueños. “Your willingness to buy the COVID-19 vaccines intended for your employees and their family members and, much more, your liberality to donate doses thereof for the marginalized will play a vital role in attaining our objective of immunizing all Nagueños as soon as possible,” the mayor said in his speech.

Aman, who is the younger brother of Engr. Emeterio Aman, a former MNCCI president and now the chairman of the Metro Naga Water District board, said that one of the recent partnerships that his group has established is with the Office of the Vice President and the provincial office of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The collaboration has made possible the efficient distribution of seed facilities to farmers in the rural areas of Metro Naga, several towns in Partido area, the municipality of Libmanan, and the province’s first district.

He said a business advisory council within the MNCCI will also be created to assist businessmen looking for solutions to their problems especially those whose operations were badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.