“The pressure brought about by the country’s poor rankings in global competitiveness and high governance standards have a direct bearing on local governments, who are at the forefront of addressing these concerns. Local governments need to partner with multiple stakeholders, including the private sector, to improve the delivery of services in pursuing local economic development,” Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Jesse M. Robredo said in his keynote speech at the Entrepreneurial Leadership Development Program held at the Richmonde Hotel, Eastwood City, on June 9-10, 2011.
The need to collaborate for LED through the DA-DAR-DENR Convergence Initiative, was reiterated by Sec. Virgilio R. Delos Reyes of the Department of Agrarian Reform and Usec. Bernadette Romulo-Puyat of the Department of Agriculture in their luncheon presentation. The convergence initiative is characterized by shared resources, shared planning and clear objectives between and among the three rural development agencies.
Other distinguished speakers at the event were: Mr. Vince Araneta of the North Philippines Visitors Bureau who shared their success and challenges in promoting tourism in North Central Luzon; Mr. Ricky Osmond, Senior Vice President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries, on the Most Business-Friendly LGUs Awards; and Dr. Dixon Yasay, a former mayor and Director of Xavier University Governance and Leadership Institute, who touched on the essential entrepreneurial leadership qualities that a Local Chief Executive and an LGU LED team should possess; among others.
The Entrepreneurial Leadership Development Program is the first module of a LED Course Curriculum for LGUs (LED4LGUs) being developed by the Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) and the Local Government Academy (LGA).
The two-day program challenged the participants to reflect on their role as leaders in creating and sustaining LED in their localities. It stressed the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset among local officials, exercising this entrepreneurial leadership within a team setting, and harnessing the strengths of the team in actively seeking and exploiting opportunities for local economic development.
Participants were eleven LGU Alliances/Provinces which comprise a new batch of partners that will be receiving support from LGSP-LED: Clustered Upland Municipalities of Ilocos Sur (CUMILOS), Coastal Towns in the North Clustered for Integrated Development (COINCIDE), Metro Naga Development Council (MNDC), Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC), 2nd Iloilo Integrated Area Development Incorporated (2nd IAD), Province of Iloilo, PADAYON Bohol Marine Triangle Management Council, Inc., Province of Leyte, Province of Northern Samar, PPALMA Alliance and the Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance (AVLDA).
For copies of the presentation materials from the two-day event, visit https://sites.google.com/site/eldprogram2011