President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will address the final session tomorrow (Thursday) of the two-day LGU Conference for Sustained Competitiveness to be held in Malacañang.

The conference, which highlights the 17th anniversary celebration of the signing of the 1991 Local Government Code, seeks to stress the important role of local government units (LGUs) in enhancing the country’s global competitiveness.

Some 200 local executives are participating in the one-and-a-half day conference, which has the following objectives:

- define the concept of competitiveness in the context of local governments and identify critical components of competitiveness;
- showcase international and local best practices in attaining competitiveness;
- present investments opportunities in four priority sectors, namely, agriculture, mining, outsourcing and offshoring, and tourism, and share the experiences of successful local executives and private sector groups working in these sectors;
- identify the criteria for competitiveness in the four sectors and agree on an action plan involving local governments, the national government, and the private sector that will address the impediments to competitiveness in these sectors; and
- engage LGUs to participate in programs that will accelerate their local economic development through enhanced competitiveness.

The conference also serves as an opportunity for LGU officials to meet prospective private sector investors in their respective jurisdictions.

The conference, which opens today at the AIM-SGV Conference Hall in Makati City, will be devoted to discussions and experience-sharing among LGUs officials and the private sector.

The National Competitiveness Council said the conference “will be promoting competitiveness in different sunrise industries in the country” thus, the invitation to leaders in priority sectors, together with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) officials. - www.gov.ph