MAKING AN IMPACT Rebuilding Economic Opportunities in Northern Iloilo (Philippines) Natural disaster calls for creative re-building efforts Also known as the Heart of the Philippines, the Province of Iloilo is located at the southern and northeastern portion of Panay Island. The capital city of the province is the City of Iloilo, which is also one of the major urban centers in the Philippines. Northern Iloilo is considered the resort destination of Iloilo, known for its panoramic views, islands, mountains, seascapes and beautiful, white sand beaches. It also has rich marine life and contains many marine protected areas and sanctuaries. In November 2013, Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name, Haiyan) devastated Northern Iloilo. Damage to property (including livelihood, accommodation establishments and tourist destinations) amounted to an estimated PHP10.3B and affected 430,739 people or 97.20% of the area’s population. Following the effects of Super Typhoon Yolanda, the Provincial Government developed an economic recovery and rebuilding plan to position Northern Iloilo as “Iloilo’s Resort Destination”
Supporting MSMEs to rebuild tourism LGSP-LED began working in Northern Iloilo in 2012. After the typhoon, the Program re-focused its efforts on enhancing the tourism competitiveness in the municipalities of Ajuy, Banate, Barotac Viejo, Carles, Conception and Estancia, which were the LGUs hit worst by Super Typhoon Yolanda and in urgent need of rehabilitation and recovery efforts.
A particular focus of the rebuilding strategy was to support affected Micro Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) with business recovery through opportunities in the emerging ecotourism and resort-based tourism activities. LGSP-LED conducted capacity building activities for local government leaders and staff in order to enhance the ability of provincial and local governments to assist the business recovery of MSMEs. The Program provided training in developing policies and programs that would enable local economic development, such as local investment incentives codes and automated business permitting and licensing systems.
MAKING AN IMPACT REBUILDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN NORTHERN ILOILO
The Province of Iloilo developed an Local Investment and Incentives Code in 2011, as mandated by the Joint Memorandum Circular issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). As part of the process of developing the LIIC, an Investment Promotions Board and the Investment Promotions Unit were created. Through the Investment Promotions Unit and together with Department of Trade and Industry and DILG, the Iloilo Provincial Government established the Business Recovery Centre.
The Business Recovery Centre is a ‘onestop-shop’ for assistance for potential investors and local entrepreneurs, as well as the delivery of Local Economic Development (LED) support programs and services. The Business Recovery Center provided business advisory services to the MSMEs to rebuild their businesses. Training on how to enhance tourism products and packaging helped MSMEs was provided. A total of 19 MSMEs from Northern Iloilo participated in the program. At the same time, the Negosyo Center linked these MSMEs to potential markets to display and sell their products. With the improved access to the market and enhanced packaging of their products, sales improved giving them opportunities to improve and reduce poverty in their respective areas.
Enabling Role for Local Government in LED A key lesson learned from this project is that the role of local government in advancing LED is to enable sustainable and inclusive local economic development to grow. In other words, government is best positioned to play an supporting role in order to facilitate business investment, product development, and workforce development, like it did by creating the Business Recovery Centre.
MAKING AN IMPACT REBUILDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN NORTHERN ILOILO
Government does this primarily by providing a local policy and public service environment that facilitates the efficient, effective, and ultimately profitable operations of local enterprises. It should also support the growth and development of its tourism enterprises. However, the Project also demonstrated that local government can take a leadership role in certain LED functions such as destination marketing and public infrastructure investments where the local private sector does not have the resources and/or interest in taking the lead.
SUMMARY Program name: Rebuilding Economic Opportunities in Northern Iloilo (Philippines) Date: 2012 - 2014 Location: Norther Iloilo Population: 1.8 million Key program components: Tourism Circuit development (Plan developed and adopted, tour package developed and launched, products and series enhanced) Workforce development (LGU Business Plan, Training for LGU staffs and enterprise workers) Establishment of Business Recovery Centre to support tourism development and business recovery through a convergence of Provincial and National Government Agency programs and services. Investment promotion Impact highlights: 6 Local Economic and Investment Promotions Offifers (LEIPOs) were designated at the municipal level and 1 Provincial LEIPO was institutionalized with an office and budget. Direct employment resulting from tourism related investments for 2013 is estimated at 167. The mobile Negosyo Center assisted 24 MSME owners and staff within the Northern Iloilo LGUs through technical assistance in Packaging Assistance for Microentrepreneurs, Business Management and Basic Entrepreneurship. 60 new tourism-related businesses (i.e. restaurants, eateries, resorts, commercial buildings) were registered within the Northern Iloilo tourism circuit during the project. 292 LGU staff members were provided with technical assistance in the formulation and design of policies and programs (e.g. Formulation of the Local Revenue Code and Tourism Code) to help their LGUs become more business-friendly and competitive. Private and public investments on tourism-related infrastructure/facilities total PHP 130.1 M. 24 tourism-related products and services within the circuit were enhanced through the Negosyo Center and in partnership with the DSWD-Sustainable Livelihoods Program. Visitor arrivals in the project area grew by 30%.