The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) cited Quezon City as the most competitive “Highly Urbanized City” in the 2021 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), the city government announced Friday, July 8.
Mayor Joy Belmonte received the award from DTI-Competitiveness Bureau Director Lilian Salonga during the conferment ceremony held at the Quezon City Hall on Thursday, July 7.
Quezon City was also recognized as the second most competitive in economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure; and third in resiliency.
Belmonte said the recognition as the most competitive highly urbanized city means that their collective effort to reboot the city’s economy is seeing good results.
She added that the awards were proof that the policies and programs that were enacted in the city yielded a positive effect in terms of growth and sustainability, despite the challenging global economic crisis.
“Despite the pandemic, our programs stood out when measured using the four pillars. This is a win for all business owners in Quezon City,” Belmonte said.
The programs include the city’s move to automate and digitalize transactions for permits and tax payments; Kalingang QC that provides wage relief to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) workers; and the Pangkabuhayng QC livelihood training and capital assistance.
The CMCI is an annual ranking of cities and municipalities measured based on five competitiveness pillars - Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Resiliency.
For the 2022 CMCI awards, Innovation will be added as the new pillar.
The evaluation allows local government units to identify their economic strengths and weaknesses, and also to improve their efforts and have local-level comparisons with other LGUs.
Belmonte said that the city is already preparing to compete on the fifth pillar.
“The DTI, through the National Competitiveness Council, has identified Innovation as the country’s growth driver and key to enable LGUs to expand their economies. We look forward to showcasing our programs and policies that reflect ‘Innovation’,” she said.