DAVAO CITY -- The regional office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI 11) conducted provincial roadshows to help local government units (LGUs) improve their competitiveness and draw more investments to Davao region.
Part of the roadshows was the compliance rating of the LGUs in adopting the 2016 Business Permit and Licensing System (BPLS) standards, as well as their overall competitiveness performance in the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) rankings with the implementation of competitiveness enhancement support programs being delivered by DTI 11.
The roadshows conducted in Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley, and Davao Occidental, were participated in by the provinces’ respective local chief executives (LCEs), business permit and licensing officers (BPLOs), local economic and investment promotion officers (LEIPOs), city/municipality treasurer officers (C/MTOs), city/municipal local government operations officers (C/MLGOOs), and other local officials involved in the whole business registration process. Representatives from the private sector also attended the activities.
Apart from the provincial roadshows, a regional activity was also done in collaboration with the Regional Competitiveness Committee (RCC) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) at the Pinnacle Hotel and Suites in Davao City to further strengthen the drive to produce more competitive LGUs.
The one-day activity presented updates on the CMCI project, in which several revisions of its sub-indicators will be made this year. The indicators, will still, however, capture its four key pillars, namely, government efficiency, infrastructure, economic dynamism, and resiliency. This will further align the CMCI with the Global Competitiveness Index Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which recently ranked the Philippines 56th (2017) from from the 2010 rank of 85th out of 139 economies.
DTI 11 Regional Director Maria Belenda Q. Ambi explained that in the BPLS streamlining project, the LGUs’ reform implementation were assessed through the conduct of field monitoring and evaluation survey, targeting business owners who applied or renewed their business permits as respondents.
The 2017 survey results showed that the region is 96.7 percent compliant for new applications, and 94.8 percent for renewal. This is in terms of issuing business permits within one to two days upon receipt of the application form with the pre-required documents.
On the other hand, 71.5 percent of the LGUs are compliant in delivering the business registration process within three steps for new applications, and 70.6 percent for the renewal applications.
However, some LGUs (28.5 percent for new applications and 29.4 percent for renewal) were reported to be delivering the said service within four steps. Ambi noted that improvements due to the implementation of these competitiveness-related reforms have positively affected the country’s global standing.
In the Doing Business Report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Philippines ranked 113th out of 190 economies in 2018, which rose 35 notches from 148th in 2010.
This report captures important dimensions of the regulatory environment, such as, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.
With the support of the private sector, partner agencies, and initiatives by the LGUs themselves, DTI 11 aims to deliver its full support to the promotion and development of national competitiveness.
“There is indeed an upward trend as we look back into our performance in the ease of doing business, as well as, competitiveness, however, reaching the higher ranks would require intense public and private collaboration, for while we are doing our best to improve, other LGUs are also doing the same,” Ambi said. (Jenny Mendoza/PNA).
