Iloilo City was awarded the most competitive highly urbanized city outside of the National Capital Region (NCR) and the fourth overall based on the 2023 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI).

Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion (LEDIP) office head Velma Lao received the recognition together with project development officer for the city government, Lea Lara, during the Philippine Creative Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Congress by the Department of Trade and Industry-Competitiveness Bureau (DTI-CB) held at The Manila Hotel on Thursday.

Lao said the award showed a significant leap of the city from the seventh position for the overall rank last year to the fourth this year.

“Outside NCR, we are number one. We have our highest leap among five categories in economic dynamism and innovation,” she said in a phone interview on Friday.

Lao said the city was fourth in the two categories, a big leap from 12th rank last year.

Based on this year’s CMCI, an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council, Iloilo City placed second for government efficiency, fifth in resiliency, and ninth in infrastructure.

Rankings of cities and municipalities are based on the sum of their scores on five pillars: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, resiliency and innovation.

Lao said the award is proof that the city “can really compete” and a big factor is good governance.

In a separate interview, Mayor Jerry Treñas said he asked the LEDIP team to meet with professors at the University of the Philippines (UP) for guidance as he targets the city to bag even the third rank next year.

Treñas said the award matters because investors look at the competitiveness of an area before they invest.

“It is very important for us. It will ensure that we continue to be competitive,” he added.

Meanwhile, the municipality of Mina in Iloilo province ranked seventh in the overall rank of most competitive municipalities, belonging to the fifth to sixth class category. (PNA)