ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The National Competitive Council (NCC) adjudged this city as “Most Improved Local Government Unit (LGU)” among 33 highly-urbanized cities in the country.
The city ranked first in this category.
The City Hall Information office said in a statement Friday that Zamboanga City also ranked fourth in “Resiliency for Highly Urbanized Cities.”
Among 145 cities nationwide, Zamboanga ranked 16th in “Overall Competitiveness” category, and 19th in terms of infrastructure projects.
The award was conferred during the 5th Regional Competitive Summit held on Wednesday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
These awards were anchored on the “Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index,” an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities based on competitiveness framework developed by Michael Porter, which is being used in a number of global surveys on competitiveness.
The most competitive and improved local government unit (LGU) is awarded based on such indicators or measurements as economic dynamism, government efficiency and infrastructure.
The NCC is a public-private sector organization in the Philippines with a mandate to promote and develop national competitiveness strategies and push for the implementation of the Action Agenda of Competitiveness and link it to the Philippine Development Plan.
The NCC is specifically directed to measure performance and provide recommendations on the following: Agri-trade logistics, anti-corruption, budget transparency, business permits and licensing system, education and human resource development, information and communication technology (ICT) governance, infrastructure, judicial system, national quality infrastructure, national single window, performance government system, and power and energy services
It is chaired by Department Trade and Industry (DTI) Sec. Ramon Lopez, with Guillermo Luz, a private sector representative, as vice-chair.
The NCC has 10 members, five of them are department secretaries--Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Education (DepEd), and the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)--and five private sector representatives. (TPGJR/PNA)
