Village Connect
In order to boost investor confidence, the Quezon City Government will be hosting a business investment summit on October 7 at the Novotel Manila, Quezon City. The city will be presenting its “ease of doing business” initiatives and its plans to enhance its business climate at this gathering of business leaders. The summit is also meant to be a venue through which the city can engage with business leaders and seek their views on policies and programs for the mutual benefit of both the local government and the private sector.
With the theme “QC is Future Ready,” the one-day event aims to bring together investors, business leaders, business associations, chambers of commerce, foreign dignitaries, and Quezon City government officials. “We want to achieve three things at this event. We want to generate investments for our city, build partnerships favorable to all QCitizens; and we want to make Quezon City the top-of-mind preferred investment destination,” said Perry Dominguez, head of the summit’s organizing committee.
During her first term, Mayor Joy Belmonte and the Quezon City government received 83 awards and recognitions from the national government, private sector, and the international community. While she is grateful for the recognition, Belmonte said the real measure of success is the number of Quezon City residents whose lives have improved under her watch.
Among her accomplishments towards this end include improved social services for the people, especially the vulnerable. She believes this was partly made possible by the free, fair, and fertile business environment she nurtured during her first three years in office, which facilitated the flow of revenue into the city that in turn was allocated to addressing her constituents’ main concerns.
This time around, Belmonte is pursuing five major thrusts that will foster a robust business climate and increase investor confidence in Quezon City. These five thrusts are social services for all, economic development, environmental sustainability, gold standard infrastructure projects, and sustained good governance.
Under economic development, Belmonte assures QCitizens of the continuous automation and digitization of the city’s services, which are geared towards further enhancing the “ease of doing business” and eradicating corruption. To date, Quezon City has migrated most of its manual services online – from assessment, payment of business and real property taxes to applying for business permits, building permits, college scholarships, to registering births.
“Higher business confidence leads to jobs, higher productivity, increased labor demand, and accelerated economic growth. Our constant coordination with the business community enables us to foster a relationship of mutual respect and support,” Belmonte said.
“One of our major thrusts is that social services for all are guaranteed. Every year, we progressively increase the budget dedicated to social services. We started with a budget of P9.8 billion in 2019. This year, our budget is at P16.1 billion which has proven to be an inclusive social safety net for all marginalized and underprivileged sectors,” she added.
Meanwhile, good governance in the Belmonte administration is underscored by zero tolerance for corruption, bringing the city government’s services closer to the citizens through District Action Offices, and enhancing the skills and knowledge of government personnel, barangay officials and members of the People’s Council.
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