Paoay cited as the country’s most competitive town

PAOAY, Ilocos Norte, Aug. 26 (PIA) – – Governor Imee Marcos has commended this historic town for having been adjudged as the country’s most competitive municipality noting its growing efficiency.

Marcos, who coined the province’s tourism slogan, “Paoay Kumakaway,” in 2012, cited the town for having risen from the challenge not only in the tourism aspect but also in business aspect.

Paoay is often visited by foreign and local tourists not only for its UNESCO World Heritage site at the famous centuries-old Saint Augustine Church but also for its attractive sand dunes sports adventure and the legendary Paoay Lake.

For her part, Mayor Dolores Clemente expressed elation to the latest award achieved by her town saying that their sacrifices to improve their governance started to bear fruit.

As per result of the 2015 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) recently published by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), the town of Paoay topped the 3rd to 6th class municipality category.

With the objective to accurately rank the locality’s competitiveness; the local government units (LGUs) were classified according to four categories: 3rd to 6th class municipalities, 1st to 2nd class municipalities, component cities, and highly urbanized cities.

The CMCI is a program designed to motivate LGUs to gather and voluntarily submit data which are used to measure their performance on three pillars anchored on global standards: economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure.

The data submitted by the local government units, through the assistance of a partner academe and the Regional Competitiveness Committees, is used for the final scoring and ranking.

The program is initiated by the NCC aiming to improve the country’s overall competitiveness, through collaborative efforts between the national and local government agencies, and the public and private sectors. (Freddie G. Lazaro/PIA-1 Ilocos Norte)