Baguio ranks 19th in 2020 DTI competitive index

March 6, 2021 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY (March 5, 2021) – Baguio City ranked 19th among the country’s 33 highly-urbanized cities (HUCs) in the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) 2020 Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index (CMCI).
City Planning and Development Office chief Archt. Donna Tabangin said the CMCI rating is composed of four parameters at 25 percent each: Economic dynamism; government efficiency; infrastructure; and resiliency. With a score of 6.7338, Baguio city ranked 11th in economic dynamism; 26th in government efficiency at 9.3391; 18th in infrastructure at 5.8129; and 26th in resiliency with a score of 16.6571.
Under economic dynamism, Tabangin said Baguio City though needs to improve in local economy size and growth; increase in employment; productivity; presence of business and professional organizations.
Areas needing improvement when it comes to government efficiency are compliance to national directives; capacity to generate local resource; capacity of health services; compliance to business permits and licensing system standards.
In terms of infrastructure, Baguio has to level up when it comes to road network; distance to ports; transportation vehicles; education; and accommodation capacity.
Needing more attention under resiliency are the city’s land use plan; utilities; and its employed population, she said. Aiming for the city to get a higher ranking this year, Tabangin said her office is currently analyzing the 2020 data and studying the DTI’s CMCI metrics; conducting benchmarking and comparative analysis of the other 32 HUCs; collection and analysis of data from different city government offices for comparison to 2020 data and how these will fair against the metrics.
Also included are the conduct of an Institute for Solidarity Asia (ISA) strategic planning that is helpful in the city’s 2021 CMCI preparation; enjoining offices to join the Annual Investment Plan cycle by gearing their respective projects, plan, and activities towards the city’s development framework and ISA strategy.
“This will show that the city has a roadmap and ensures that its efforts are encapsulated in data that is used in the DTI CMCI metrics,” Tabangin stressed.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the results should be taken constructively and is confident that this year will be a “big leap forward” for the city as long as proper focus and actions are undertaken.
Artemio A. Dumlao