Quezon City cited as most competitive LGU

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has recognized Quezon City as the most competitive local government unit (LGU) among highly urbanized cities (HUC) for 2021.

Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday received five awards garnered by the local government at the 2021 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index of the DTI.

Quezon City also received recognition in terms of competitiveness in economic dynamism (second place), government efficiency (second place), infrastructure (second place) and resiliency (third place).

Belmonte said the awards show that their collective effort to reboot the local economy is gaining headway.

“The policies and programs that we implemented yielded a positive effect in terms of growth and sustainability despite the global economic crisis,” the mayor said.

“Despite the pandemic, our programs stood out when measured using the four pillars of economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure and resiliency. This is a win for business owners in the city,” Belmonte added.

Among the programs implemented by the city government in recent years include automation of transactions at city hall, wage relief for workers affected by the pandemic as well as livelihood training and capital assistance program for micro-entrepreneurs.

“Also in the pipeline are the Kalingang QC loan program for MSMEs and the QC start-up project, both aimed at supporting local businesses,” Belmonte said.

“We are committed to our goal of creating a burgeoning, sustainable and competitive business environment in the city as a fundamental strategy for uplifting the lives of our constituents,” she added.