Koronadal City, South Cotabato | 20 October 2022 – The 10th Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Summit included seven local government units of Region 12 as among the country’s most competitive municipalities, cities and provinces in the awarding ceremonies recently held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PIIC) in Metro Manila which was attended by the esteemed leaders from various local government units in the country and key officials of the Department of Trade and Industry with Secretary Alfredo Pascual as the keynote speaker.
A total of 1,634 LGUs competed for these most coveted awards in competitiveness. During the Summit, 108 awards were given to the different LGUs measured by their performance on the five pillars which are the primal aspects of their overall competitiveness and capability to compete internationally.
Among the entries, Region 12 was able to take home two awards for ranking within the top 3 in their respective categories. General Santos City ranked 3rd Most Competitive in Government Efficiency for Highly Urbanized Cities while Koronadal City ranked 3rd Most Competitive in Resiliency for Component Cities.
In addition, other Region 12 LGUs also ranked within the top 10 on the different pillars. Polomolok ranked 10th for 1st to 2nd Class Municipalities in Economic Dynamism while Norala ranked 5th for 3rd to 4th Class Municipalities in Government Efficiency. Kabacan ranked 5th and Malungon ranked 10th in Resiliency for 1st to 2nd Class Municipalities and General Santos City ranked 5th in Innovation for Highly Urbanized Cities.
The Province of South Cotabato also ranked 9th Most Competitive Province in the country.
Flora Politud-Gabunales, OIC-Regional Director of DTI-12, congratulated the winning LGUs and expressed delight for having 100 percent participation of Region 12 in the CMCI.
“We are pleased to say that since CMCI was launched in 2013, several LGUs in Region 12 have consistently made it to the top 10 rankings in the different pillars of the competitiveness index. This is a great achievement that resulted from the continued work and active participation of the LGUs and the business sectors,” said Politud-Gabunales.
With her congratulatory message, Politud-Gabunales also challenged the LGUs to continue in their efforts to increase their ranking in the next CMCI, “We hope that our LGUs will not settle with their achievements but will continue to thrive more as we work for inclusive development here in Region 12.”
The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities. It is a program that encourages LGUs to gather and submit data that will be used to measure their performance on five pillars: Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, Resiliency, and Innovation. Each pillar has indicators that provide a more detailed view of the economic status of the locality.♦
Date of Release: 24 October 2022