DAVAO City attracted fresh investments worth P3.54 billion in 2010 generating close to 5,000 new jobs in the process. This is the report of the Davao City Investment Promotion Center.
In another positive development, data obtained from the business bureau of the city mayor’s office stated that Davao’s burgeoning economy is boosted with the operation of 62,374 business lines in 2010, indicating a heartening increase of close to 20 percent compared with 52,000 business lines recorded in the previous year.
City government officials and leaders of the private sector, especially those in the business community, ought to be credited for the impressive economic performance of the city as borne by the figures.
And yet, it would be a mistake for our leaders, to rest on their laurels, so to speak. Indeed, there is more to this rosy picture than meets the eye. On the ground, there is so much to be done to accelerate the inroads, if not sustain the accomplishments.
This requires nurturing of the current strong city government-private sector partnership that we have seen during the last two to three decades.
This means the city leadership now under Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio should continue and cement the relationship developed by the previous administration led by her father, now Vice Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte and his able minions who shared his vision. Such a relationship entailed a lot of listening to the city’s big and small players in the business community, the academe, civil society and the rest of the constituency, the hoi polloi, even the unwashed.
Some keen observers insist that Cebu’s economic fortunes started to during the time of former governor Lito Osmena, who was known to be more business- than politics-oriented. Accordingly, one of the popular activities the governor is known for is his regular dinner-meetings with business and economic leaders of the province and the cities therein. It was in these gatherings that Osmena reportedly would pick the brains of the leaders.
Constant dialogues such as these are ideal for Davao City, given the many groups who are willing to express their own ideas, especially those who have to transact business with the government and are affected by the quality of its service or the lack of it. These sectors are usually well-educated and well-traveled who have picked up best practices of foreign government that can be adopted locally. Since most of them are business executives if not business owners themselves, they can be an effective sounding board for proposed government policies and proposed projects. The same people can also pinpoint the LGU officials and employees who are engaged in graft and corruption practices.
Constant open dialogue between the governor and the governed may sound old-fashioned and passe’ but it has assumed an even more indispensable role in today’s ICT (information and communication technology)-driven world.
