Tagum City, Davao del Norte – The Department of Trade Industry (DTI) office here finally commenced its first-ever provincial competitiveness awarding among the local government units (LGUs) in the province. 

From 2020 until 2021, the province of Davao del Norte placed second in the Overall Competitiveness Award of the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) Regional Competitiveness Summit-National Level. These awards reflected the good performance of the three component cities and eight municipalities of the province. 

With this feat, the DTI-Davao del Norte provincial office, in coordination with the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte, organized the 1^st CMCI Provincial Level Awarding on 16 March 2022 at the Davao del Norte Sports Complex Gym, Mankilam, Tagum City. The giving of recognitions was based on the CMCI ranking by the Competitiveness Bureau. This was after the 2021 CMCI Regional Competitiveness Summit National Awarding held virtually in December last year and the Davao Region CMCI Regional Awarding last month. 

The provincial awardees were the following: 

The provincial government of Davao del Norte received the Excellence Award for being Consistent Top 2 in the National Level (2020-2021) as the Overall Most Competitive Province. Also, the city government of Tagum City received the same award for being Consistent Top 3 in the National Level (2020-2021) as Overall Most Competitive City and recognized for contributing more than half of the Provincial Competitiveness Index. 

Under the Component Cities category, 1^st place was awarded to Tagum City, while 2^nd and 3^rd go to the cities of Panabo and Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS), respectively. Under the 1^st Class Municipalities, Carmen landed in 1^st place, while Kapalong is 2^nd, and Santo Tomas ranked 3^rd. For 2^nd Class Municipalities, New Corella and Talaingod got the 1^st, 2^nd spot, respectively. 

On the other hand, for Most Improved Awards, for component cities, IGaCoS bagged 1^st place. In the 1^st Class Municipalities level, Santo Tomas got the 1^st spot and Asuncion for the 2^nd spot. 

The event also gave recognition to those who have shown great efforts in boosting their local competitiveness through the special awards. For the Perseverance Award category, San Isidro ranked 1^st and B.E. Dujali ranked 2^nd. While Carmen was also given a Star Award for being consistently Top 1 in the Region for Resiliency Pillar (2020-2021). 

DTI-Davao del Norte provincial director Romeo L. Castañaga shared that for two consecutive years, these LGUs have proven that they are successful in the implementation of their initiatives to improve their competitiveness.  

“We organize the 1^st CMCI Provincial Awarding primarily to give due recognition and commendation to our local chief executives and CMCI Teams in the province for their active participation as well as consistently topping the national, regional CMCI ranking,” Castañaga said. 

The goal of continual improvement is one of the motivating factors for the province to strive for excellence in the five competitiveness pillars, namely: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, resiliency, and innovation. These contribute to the achievement of inclusive growth and income opportunities for all. 

Before receiving the awards, the office, together with the provincial government, guided the execution of various initiatives, which include capacity building, webinars on investment briefing and counseling with the Board of Investments (BOI), review of the Local Investment and Incentives Code (LIIC), and validation and review of the CMCI local data capture sheets. Maintaining a strong relationship with the provincial government, LGUs, and national government agencies (NGAs) such as the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for the electronic business processing and licensing system (e-BPLS) was also encouraged. 

After receiving the awards, the local chief executives (LCEs) attested to a pledge of commitment, to wit: 

1. To provide timely, updated, accurate, and appropriate information needed in the local data capture sheet; 
2. To comply with the required supporting documents; 
3. To improve the CMCI score and ranking; and 
4. To promote inclusive growth and development through improved CMCI pillars. 

By strengthening the competitiveness of the cities and municipalities and to succeed, the DTI Davao del Norte and the provincial government are hopeful to achieve more in the next ranking and awarding ceremonies.  

“We also enjoin the LCEs to further push the cities and municipalities to contribute more CMCI scores and strive for excellence in the provincial competitiveness,” the trade provincial director concluded. ♦

Date of Release: 24 March 2022