Quezon City named country’s most competitive city

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has received numerous recognitions over the past week, including the “Overall Most Competitive Highly Urbanized City” award from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Local officials led by Vice Mayor Gian Sotto received the award during the 2022 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index Awarding ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center on Thursday.

Mayor Joy Belmonte is currently out of the country to attend the C40 World Mayors Summit in Argentina.

Aside from the recognition, Quezon City has received other awards from DTI including 1st Place as Most Competitive in Innovation, 2nd Place as Most Competitive in Economic Dynamism, 2nd Place as Most Competitive in Government Efficiency, 2nd Place as Most Competitive in Infrastructure and 2nd Place as Most Competitive in Resiliency.

Meanwhile, the city also received a special citation from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry as one of the most business friendly local government units in the country.

“The awards given to us are a testament to our vision of providing honest and transparent governance by eliminating red-tape and improving our services to our QCitizens,” said Belmonte.

“We believe that being considered as ‘a highly competitive city’ will attract more investors, make businesses prosper and create more job opportunities for a stronger and better economy,” added Sotto.

Business Permits and Licensing Department head Ma. Margarita Santos also expressed gratitude to the DTI and PCCI for the recognition.

“QC is open for business and we wish to assure the private sector that we will work even harder to further improve our processes and fine tune our systems to give QCitizens the best government service there is,” she added.

Last week, the Department of Health regional office in Metro Manila also recognized the city’s efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

It also recognized Quezon City’s support and contribution to achieve various health program goals of the department, including the realization of universal health care in the region.