Quezon City holds business summit today

MANILA, Philippines — To further boost investors’ confidence, the Quezon City government will hold a business investment summit today at Novotel Manila.

The local government aims to present before the business leaders its “ease of doing business” initiatives as well as plans to enhance the business climate in the city.

“The summit is also meant to be a venue from which the city can engage with business leaders and seek their views on policies and programs for the mutual benefit of both the local government and the private sector,” city hall said.

Aside from business leaders, the summit, dubbed “QC is Future Ready,” will gather business associations, chambers of commerce, foreign dignitaries and city government officials.

“We want to achieve three things during the event: generate investments for the city, build partnerships favorable to all QCitizens and make Quezon City the top-of-mind preferred investment destination,” Perry Dominguez, head of the summit’s organizing committee, said.

During her first term, Mayor Joy Belmonte and the city government received 83 awards and recognitions from the national government, private sector and the international community.

While she is grateful for the recognition, Belmonte said the real measure of success is the number of residents whose lives have improved under her watch.

The summit is also in line with Belmonte’s five major thrusts, which aim to foster a robust business climate and increase investor confidence in the city.

These five thrusts are social services for all, economic development, environmental sustainability, gold standard infrastructure projects and sustained good governance.

“Higher business confidence leads to jobs, better productivity, increased labor demand and accelerated economic growth. Our constant coordination with the business community enables us to foster a relationship of mutual respect and support,” Belmonte said.

“Every year, we increase the funding for social services. We started with a budget of P9.8 billion in 2019. This year, we increased this to P16.1 billion, which has proven to be an inclusive social safety net for the marginalized and underprivileged sectors,” she added.

In terms of economic development, Belmonte assured QC residents of the “continuous automation and digitization of the city’s services, which are geared toward further enhancing the ease of doing business and eradicating corruption.”

Belmonte said most of the transactions at city hall are being done online, from assessment, payment of business and real property taxes to applying for business and building permits, college scholarships, to registering births.

As for good governance, Belmonte underscored the importance of “zero tolerance for corruption, bringing the city government’s services closer to the public through district action offices as well as enhancing the skills and knowledge of government personnel, barangay officials and members of the People’s Council.”