Rama to speak on public-private partnership in Japan

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama was invited as one of the keynote speakers in the “4th Asia Smart City Conference” in Yokohama, Japan.

Rama said he will be sharing the city’s best experiences and practices in its partnership with the private sector.

“I will be bringing to them about the importance of private sector under the spider web approach and the PPDG (People-Privately Driven Governance) which both originated from my idea,” Rama told reporters yesterday before heading to the airport.

Aside from Cebu City, three other local government units in the Philippines were also invited to the international conference. These are Makati, San Fernando, and Baguio.

Other participating countries are Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The continental conference from October 19 to 21 is hosted by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the City of Yokohama.

All expenses of the participants are paid for by the host.   Lawyer Leslie Ann Reyes, head of the Cebu City Protocol Office, said the city mayor was assigned to speak about the role of city leaders in attracting good involvement of the private sector.

 “He will be discussing what our best practices are in public and private partnerships including such issues as adequate procurement process, financial contribution from the local and national government, among others,” she said.

Aside from the invited government officials, executives from private companies are also expected to share.

 The Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board, which Rama sits as co-chairman, was also invited. MCDCB is a coordinating body for metro-wide planning and development created in April 2011. It is composed of the Cebu Province, six municipalities, and seven cities.

It was the Japan International Cooperation Agency that has worked with MCDCB in formulating a sustainable urban development vision for Metro Cebu until the year 2050. (FREEMAN)