Report on Support to National Inter-Agency Committees

Agency for International Development (USAID) to the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). The project is an activity in support of USAID/Philippines' Cities Development Initiative (CDI), which is an important component of the broader Partnership for Growth (PFG). The CDI adopts a "whole-of-Mission" approach that engages a strategic array of USAID activities with the primary goal of promoting broad-based and inclusive growth outside of Metro Manila through second-tier cities that can serve as engines of economic growth. Currently, the CDI partner cities are Batangas and Puerto Princesa in Luzon, Iloilo and Tagbilaran in the Visayas, and Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga in Mindanao. The project, as approved by USAID, has four areas or components: (1) improving local capacity in inclusive and resilient urban development; (2) promoting low-emission local economic development strategies; (3) expanding economic connectivity and access between urban and rural areas; and (4) promoting social inclusion. For its Year 1 work plan, only the first three components and some cross-cutting tasks have activities approved by USAID. The SURGE Project provided technical support to the Business Permits and Licensing System (BPLS) Oversight Committee (BOC), which was created through a Joint Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Department Administrative Order No. 10-07 (series of 2010). The BOC's main functions are to oversee the implementation of the nationwide implementation of the BPLS streamlining reforms, mobilize resources for the different components of the reforms, coordinate the various initiatives of government, the private sector, and the development community on BPLS reforms, and assist the government in building the capacity of local governments in implementing BPLS reforms. One of the major accomplishments of the BOC was the signing of Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, series of 2016 (JMC) on August 30, 2016, by the Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Trade and Industry, and the newly organized Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). The JMC's salient features include stricter standards for processing business permits, inclusion of complementary reforms on securing Fire Safety Inspection Certificates, setting up of Business One-Stop Shops, conducting joint inspections, and the setting up of automated business permitting systems, including online processes. The SURGE Project provided technical support in the formulation and signing of the JMC and was instrumental in convincing the DTI to push for BPLS reforms. The SURGE Project also supported the National Competitiveness Council's (NCC) 2016 Regional Competitiveness Summit, which was a major accomplishment of the project in Year 1. The summit aimed to promote competitiveness and innovation in the regions, and it brought together government officials, private sector representatives, and development partners to discuss and share best practices in promoting competitiveness and innovation. The SURGE Project's support to the interagency committees and national government agencies under Activities D.2.2 (Support to the National Competitiveness Council (NCC)) and D.2.3 (Support to the Business Permit and Licensing System (BPLS) Oversight Committee) resulted in two major accomplishments in Year 1. These accomplishments include the signing of the Joint Memorandum Circular that set new standards for business permit processing and the National Competitiveness Council's 2016 Regional Competitiveness Summit. These outputs of the project are explained in the succeeding chapters. The SURGE Project's initiatives to comply with Task D.2 of the Project's cross-cutting activities are summarized in this report. The report covers the assistance to the Liveable Cities Challenge (LCC) and Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) activities and the technical support provided to the Business Permits and Licensing System (BPLS) Oversight Committee. The report also highlights the major accomplishments of the project in Year 1, including the signing of the Joint Memorandum Circular and the National Competitiveness Council's 2016 Regional Competitiveness Summit.