CAGAYAN de Oro City joins Zamboanga City and South Cotabato province as finalists for Mindanao in this year’s Most Business Friendly Local Government Unit Awards by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A five-minute video presentation followed by a 10-minute question and answer portion was held via Zoom on Wednesday between City Hall officials led by Mayor Rolando Uy and department managers and the panel of judges for the annual PCI competition held in conjunction with the 49th Philippine Business Conference and Expo.

In his opening message prior to the video presentation highlighting City Hall’s economic initiatives, Mayor Uy thanked the PCCI for recognizing their efforts in building a business friendly climate for Cagayan de Oro City. The city was nominated under the ‘Highly Urbanized City Category’ (HUCC) of the LGU awards.

PREPPING. Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy (seated right) prepares his message prior to the video presentation via Zoom before the panel of judges of the PCCI Business Friendly Local Government Units awards along with City Hall’s department managers. CIO photo by Roel Felicitas

Nominated by the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (Oro Chamber), Cagayan de Oro City qualified for the awards based on the competition’s four criteria such as fast tracking sustainable local development; ease of doing business, investment promotions and enhancing sectoral competitiveness.

Uy said the city under his administration implemented legislative reforms like tax relief ordinance and streamlined government processes to ensure transparency and accessibility to the transacting public. These, Mayor Uy said, are being achieved under his administration’s RISE development agenda, whose acronym stands for four key areas.

These are (R) for regional leadership, metropolization, accessibility and connectivity, (I) for institutional development and participatory governance, (S) for safety, security and human development and (E) for economic recovery.

“(Through) our efforts (we contributed) to improving Cagayan de Oro City’s business enabling environment, making the city an attractive business destination,” Mayor Uy said.

Cagayan de Oro City joins other Mindanao finalists like Zamboanga City and South Cotabato province in the finals of the PCCI’s Business Friendly LGU Awards. The awarding ceremonies will be held on Oct. 25-26 at the Manila Hotel. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)