Bataan tops NCC rankings in Region 3

CITY of BALANGA, Bataan – Based on the rankings released recently by the National Competitiveness Council, the Province of Bataan ranks 13^th among the 68 provinces (first in Region 3), while the City of Balanga ranks 16^th (second in Region 3) among the 108 component cities nationwide.

The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCCs) with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.

Existing competitiveness indicator systems were used as guidelines in forming the framework behind the Index. Three convergent pillars were found among the most common key indicator areas: Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency and Infrastructure. The framework integrates these pillars of local economic development and competitiveness up to the regional, national, and global levels.

Similar to other indices, the competitiveness index ranking has a total index value of 100, representing a fully competitive local unit. The index is composed of three core components with each component representing about 33.3% of index value, to wit: a. Economic Dynamism = 33.3%; b. Governance Efficiency = 33.3%; c. Infrastructure = 33.3

To qualify for the ranking of the “Most Competitive Province”, the combined population of all participating LGUs under the province should constitute at least 60% of the TOTAL PROVINCIAL POPULATION. For those provinces which qualify given this specific condition, the scoring is calculated as the population and income weighted average of the LGUs covered. Scores of the LGUs covered are then aggregated.

As one of the building blocks for national competitiveness, the RCCs are tasked to: Regularly measure local competitiveness indicators; Formulate programs to improve competitiveness; Engage in investment promotion activities to attract investors and create new jobs;

Building local competitiveness is critical to enhancing long-term national competitiveness. In pursuit of this goal, the National Competitiveness Council encouraged the creation of Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCCs) across the Philippines.