Lydia C. Pendon
ILOILO CITY: The emergence of strong public and private partnership (PPP) here has caught the eye of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which commended the private sector for doing its share in the inclusive growth of the City. DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo admitted that he was amazed at the fast pace of city development and commended the city government and the private sector for taking a lead in the turn-around of the city in a span of three years. He added that Iloilo is ripe for business investment and economic growth. In 2012, it recorded an impressive expansive growth of 7.5 percent and even surpassing the national growth rate of 6.6 percent. In March 2014, the Business Summit hosted by the city government and led by Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was able to garner more than P51 billion in investments and pledges from big ticket companies based in Metro Manila. Domingo said he will be forced to come to Iloilo more often and continue to be amazed by its growing development. The city will host the two Ministerial Meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) slated on September 21-25, 2015 for the Small and Medium Enterprises Meeting and September 28 to October 6, 2015 for the meeting on Food Security and Blue Economy. Domingo said the DTI will take a lead on the APEC meeting on SMEs, which will be participated in by 1,000 delegates from 21 countries in Asia and the Pacific rim.