Puerto Princesa, Palawan - More than 190 guests trooped to the A&A Plaza Hotel in the cleanest and greenest city in the Philippines last April 11 for the second roadshow conducted by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) this year.

Following the first NCC Roadshow held in Batangas in February, the event ran under the theme "Boosting Regional Competitiveness through Public-Private Partnership" and was co-organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) MIMAROPA and the Regional Competitiveness Council (RCC). Addressed to the members of the business community, national government agencies, local government units (LGUs), academic institutions, and media, the roadshows form part of the NCC's advocacy campaign to inform the regions of the reforms it has been pushing and encourage them to participate in the formation and implementation of such reforms.

MIMAROPA RCC Co-Chairperson Eduardo Nicolas III opened the show by sharing some good news on the country's performance in the World Economic Forum's 2013 Travel and Tourism Report in which the Philippines jumped up 12 spots from 94th to 82nd. He also stressed the role of Palawan as a key tourism center. In his message read by Dr. Nelly Mendoza, Dr. Jeter Sespeñe of the Palawan State University (PSU) called on even more collaboration among the public and private sectors and the academe.

The main feature of the roadshow was a presentation by Sarah C. Lope, Assistant Division Chief of the NCC, on the current rankings of the Philippines in various competitiveness indexes. She also discussed what the NCC has been doing to boost these rankings, particularly on the ease of doing business indicators.

The three speakers, together with OIC Regional Director of DTI Region IVB Joel Valera, then fielded questions from the audience in an open forum. Some of the issues that were raised concerned the electronic business permit and licensing system and industry roadmaps, as well as the extension of programs to far-flung LGUs and the creation of an index to measure the competitiveness of LGUs.

Provincial Director of DTI Palawan Rosenda Fortunado closed the event with a challenge to all stakeholders to do their part in making the Philippines more competitive by laying the groundwork in their very own locality.