ANGELES CITY — The city government here under the leadership of Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. was cited by the Pampanga Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council for its exemplary performance in the 2021 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI).
This after the city government ranked 5th Most Improved Highly Urbanized City nationwide.
Mayor Lazatin thanked the PMSMEDC for recognizing the city government in its efforts to make doing business easier in the city and promote development of small entrepreneurs.
“Just like the objectives of the Council, our administration will continue to uplift the city’s MSMEs,” Lazatin said.
Part of Mayor Lazatin’s priority programs is to give local entrepreneurs full support to further introduce their products not just nationwide but worldwide.
The resolution was received by the Angeles City Economic Development and Investment Promotions Office on July 28, 2022.
CMCI is an annual ranking of local government units in the Philippines developed by the National Competitiveness Council through the Regional Competitiveness Committees (RCCs) with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development.
It has four main pillars: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency.
ACEDIPO Head Irish Bonus-Llego further said the OTOP store which consists of 21 local merchants is expanding.
Apart from the physical store in Barangay Sto. Rosario, it has three exhibit-kiosks found in the City Hall — entrance and exit doors — and at the Prime City Hotel. Online shop is also available via Shopee and Facebook.
Executive Assistant IV Reina Manuel, who is supervising the OTOP store with Bonus-Llego and Chief Adviser IC Calaguas, is encouraging more local entrepreneurs to join the OTOP store.
“It is also the plan of Mayor Lazatin for the OTOP store to participate in trade fairs locally and abroad to promote and establish possible markets,” Manuel said.
To recall, in 2019 during its opening, the OTOP store only had 12 active members.
