Silay, January 12 2015 — Silay City’s key economic stakeholders formulated the city’s strategy for local economic development (LED) in a planning workshop facilitated by international and local experts from UN-Habitat in early January. The activity is a support component of the Achieving Sustainable Urban Development (ASUD) project that aims to guide the development of the city by proactively combining urban planning and legal frameworks with economy and local revenue generation. ASUD advocates that physical development must be paired with economic development and therefore, spatial planning cannot be divorced from economic planning.
Silay City is transforming into a more urban type of city and LED planning is essential to address the challenges of urbanization and at the same time capture the economic benefits and opportunities brought about by this process.
William Trousdale (UN-Habitat international consultant and LED expert), with support from Attorney Evelyn Jiz (local LED consultant), and Yen Flores (ASUD Philippines Coordinator) facilitated the two-day workshop which was attended by around 40 participants from the city government, private groups, community associations, government line agencies, and land owners. Key outputs of the workshop include the formulation of economic vision and objectives of the city, the prioritization of economic sectors that will be developed and the identification of the City Investment and Promotions Center as the lead LGU Department for the LED strategy implementation.
Silay Mayor Jose Montelibano participated in the workshop and emphasized the importance of strategic planning and the active involvement of all stakeholders in local economic development planning.
