The Quezon City government has achieved a virtual sweep when it placed among the top 3 in all categories during the recently concluded 10th Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Awarding Ceremony.
Quezon City competed with other highly urbanized cities and landed first place in the Innovation category, and second in four other categories — Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure and Resilience.
The city also won the award for the overall Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City.
The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Summit is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council (through the Regional Competitiveness Committees), with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.
The rankings were based on the five categories of the cities and municipalities competitiveness index (CMCI)— Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, Resilience and Innovation.
The awards won by the Quezon City government this year marked a continuation of its consistent performance in the CMCI.
Since Mayor Joy Belmonte took office in 2019, the city government has repeatedly been recognized as one of the most competitive highly urbanized cities by other award-giving bodies.
“Under Mayor Joy Belmonte’s guidance, our city has made massive strides in terms of ease-of-doing business, digital transformation, food security, and the swift delivery of basic services,” Business Permit and Licensing Department chief Margie Santos said.
“We are particularly proud of how our QC Business One-Stop Shop (BOSS) is now considered a best-practice model when it comes assisting local micro, small and medium enterprises and fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship,” she added.
Belmonte was grateful for the recognition, saying the awards were “a reminder that QC is on the right track, and that both government and QCitizens must work together to continuously improve our city”.
“The five pillars of the CMCI provide a framework and a roadmap of the areas we want to excel in as a city,” she stressed.
“It is important to remember, however, that increased competitiveness must always be accompanied by inclusive growth, so we must also ensure that our gains are felt by the greatest number of people,” she cited.