Tanauan, Leyte (February 18) -- Tanauan, Leyte Mayor Roque A. Tiu has been invited by the National Competitiveness Council to be one of the speakers at the February 27 Second Local Government Unit Conference which is being initiated to highlight the critical role of Local Government Units in enhancing the overall competitiveness of the country.

Ambassador Cesar R. Bautista, NCC Co-Chair for the Private Sector, said that since the municipality of Tanauan has been recognized as a model of governance by various sectors, Mayor Tiu has been requested to make a 20-minute presentation on his experiences in promoting the competitiveness of Tanauan, Leyte.

Tanauan has been adjudged as the 2008 Most Business Friendly Municipality of the Philippines by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2008. It won the same award in 2006.

Just this week, Tanauan was cited by Lakbayin ang Magandang Pilipinas and NBN Channel 4 for having the Best Municipal Hall which is a Client-Friendly Municipal Hall. The Lakbayin Team has gone to various municipalities of the country and saw for itself all the Municipal Halls.

Mayor Tiu said he is honored to share the humble experience of Tanauan, Leyte which has been made possible because of the unified desire of the local government officials and employees to provide clients an experience of doing business in a professional yet friendly and pleasant atmosphere that will make them always want to come back and do business in the municipality. Mayor Tiu bared that at first he thought to the Conference as a participant. Later on, he learned that he will be one of the presentors.

The Conference which will revolve around the theme "LGU as Spark Plugs for Sustained Philippine Competitiveness: Best Practice Models," will be held on February 27, 2009 at BOI-AVR, 6th Floor, Board of Investments at Gil Puyat St., Manila.

The NCC Co-Chair bared that the organizers are targeting about 25- 30 Local Chief Executives who will surely benefit from the information they will get from the resource speakers.

Ambassador Mendoza said that the conference aims to define the concept of competitiveness in the context of local governments and identify critical components of competitiveness that LGUs can strive for.

The Second Local Government Unit Conference will showcase local best practices in attaining competitiveness, present investment opportunities in sunrise sectors of government, agribusiness, mining, Information Technology and Tourism, and share experiences of successful local chief executives and private sector groups working in these sectors.

The Conference, Ambassador Mendoza added, hopes to identify the criteria for competitiveness in these sectors and agree on an action plan involving local governments, the national government and the private sector that would address the impediments to competitiveness in these sectors.

Finally, the NCC thru the Conference, aims engage Local Government Units to participate in programs that would accelerate their local economic development through enhanced competitiveness.

Ambassador Mendoza said that in order to achieve the objectives of the Conference, it is strongly suggested that it would be best for the local Chief Executive to personally attend the one-day conference.

The NCC Co-Chair bared that the organizers are targeting about 25- 30 selected Local Chief Executives who will surely benefit from the information they will get from the resource speakers.

The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) is focusing on strengthening local government units and harnessing their strengths to help prepare the country for the economic upswing expected to take place after the global recession, Ambassador Mendoza informed.

The NCC Co-chair said the upgrade of the country's LGUs is NCC's No. 1 priority project for the year, as stronger and more efficiently run LGUs are seen as catalysts to boosting the country's global competitiveness as an investment hub. The Project aims to create and nurture 120 LGU "Spark Plugs" that would serve as focus centers for specific sunrise industries.

The LGU upgrading process started last year with the conduct of LGU summits to orient concerned LGUs about the project. Questionnaires were then distributed to LGU leaders to determine in which areas they had the strongest potential. (PIA 8)