NCC Conducts Competitiveness Roadshow in Clark
The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) conducted a roadshow on the regional and local state of Philippine competitiveness last 30 August at the Widus Convention Center, Clark Freeport. It was the 9th roadshow conducted by NCC nationwide among the 12th regional roadshows scheduled for the 2017.
In her welcome remarks, DTI-Zambales Provincial Director Leonila T. Baluyut acknowledged the efforts of the local government units which are making a bigger impact in improving their local competitiveness which in turn strengthens the competitiveness level of the country.
The Philippines in International Surveys
One of NCC’s goals is to improve the ranking of the country from the bottom 1/3 to upper 1/3. In the report presented by Ms. Marina Saldaña, among the 13 indices monitored by NCC, the country placed in the upper 1/3 of the ranks on Economic Freedom Index and the Global Gender Gap. The biggest increases in ranks from 2011 are in Economic Freedom Index with 57 notches increase in ranks and in the Doing Business Report with 49 notches increase.
Doing Business Report – ranked 99 out of 190 (year 2016)
Economic Freedom Index – ranked 58 out of 180 (year 2017)
Corruption Perception Index – ranked 101 out of 168 (year 2016)
Global Competitiveness Report – ranked 57 out of 138 (year 2016)
Global Enabling Trade Index – ranked 64 out of 138 (year 2014)
Travel and Tourism Report – ranked 79 out of 136 (year 2017)
Global Innovation Index – ranked 73 out of 128 (year 2017)
Global Information Technology Report – ranked 77 out of 139 (year 2016)
E-Government Index – ranked 71 out of 193 (year 2016)
Fragile States Index – ranked 54 out of 178 (year 2016)
Global Gender Gap – ranked 7 out of 144 (year 2016)
World Competitiveness Yearbook – ranked 41 out of 63 (year 2017)
Logistics Performance Index – ranked 71 out of 160 (year 2016)
With improvement in ranks, investments will surely follow.
LGU Compliance with DTI-DILG-DICT JMC 2016
NCC has also been regularly monitoring the compliance of local government units (LGUs) with the Joint Memorandum Circular on Revised BPLS Standards signed by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in August 2016, in response to the administration’s pronouncement to further streamline business permitting procedures in all cities and municipalities.
Mr. Faisah dela Rosa presented that, as of December 2016, 1,422 out of 1,516 LGUs (excluding ARMM) reported to have completed and undergone the BPLS Streamlining program.
To validate the claims of the LGUs, NCC conducts 2 kinds of BPLS Surveys:
Field Monitoring and Evaluation Survey
The survey started in 2012 as a part of the Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Cluster (GGAC) initiatives of the Aquino administration. In 2016, a total of 313 LGUs were surveyed and validated nationwide with 6,083 valid responses (3,013-new and 3,070 renewal) from the total 6,451 respondents. The results are based from the viewpoint of the businessmen on their actual experiences when registering their businesses. These are as follows:
Online Customer Experience Survey
The survey is annually conducted to cover the renewal period of business permits in January to February. For 2017, a total of 160 LGUs or 1,640 respondents participated in the survey. The following are the results of the survey:
Respondents were also asked to rate their satisfaction from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) with the services they received from their respective LGUs. From the 114 respondents in Central Luzon, the overall regional customer satisfaction score is 8.07.
The nationwide customer satisfaction rate is at 97%
Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index
The National Competitiveness Council also presented the results of the 2017 CMCI. Ms. Lizamyl Buquid, CMCI Project Coordinator, stressed that building local competitiveness is critical in enhancing the long-term national competitiveness. In the previous years, LGUs were ranked based from the 3 pillars – Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, and Infrastructure. For 2017 CMCI, the resiliency pillar was introduced NCC introduced the resiliency pillar to determine the capacity of the cities & municipalities to facilitate businesses and industries to create jobs, raise productivity, and increase the incomes of citizens over time despite of the shocks and stresses it encounters.
Ms. Buquid indicated that CMCI can help LGUs benchmark and position themselves vis-à-vis other locations. The index can also be used as a diagnostic tool to identify LGUs strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. CMCI can also put LGUs in the radar screen of potential local and foreign investors, hence, should continuously look for ways to improve. In the event that the LGU has already reached its maximum possible data on an indicator, it may look into other indicators that still need to be improved. Benchmarking, she said, is also a good tool to further improve the current processes of the LGU.
PCC-3 Regional Governor, Frankie Villanueva shared in his closing remarks that all stakeholders working together can improve national competitiveness.
