8 August 2014 – Philippine Consul General in Manado Jose D.R. Burgos hosted the 22nd Regular Meeting of the North Sulawesi-Mindanao Business Council (NORSULMIN BC). The meeting is notable as it is the first meeting proceeding the Registration and Accreditation of the Bylaws of the NORSULMIN BC as a registered organization in North Sulawesi.  Attendees to the meeting included BIMP-EAGA for North Sulawesi Executive Secretary Shelley Sondakh, North Minahasa Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) representative Daniel Pesik, PT. Kanaka Lines representative Johnny Jocom, NORSULMIN-BC members, Garuda Indonesia, the private sector and the North Sulawesi Tourism Board.

Discussed during the meeting were developments on the upcoming Davao-General Santos-Bitung Commercial Shipping Service by Indonesian shipping company PT. Kanaka Lines, scheduled for launch at the end of August 2014. In light of the start of commercial shipping operations, participants also discussed the need to fast-track the chartering of the Davao-Manado direct flight by Sriwijaya Air, in order to increase people-to-people exchange and facilitate the visits of businessmen, tourists and other travelers between the two regions of Southern Mindanao and Eastern Indonesia. In anticipation of the launch of the shipping service, a business delegation from Davao, led by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) is scheduled to charter a pioneering direct flight to Manado by late August 2014, in order to discuss potential business and trade opportunities and meet with local government, business and civil society counterparts. END