Mega Cebu, OECD Hold Workshop for Cebu’s Green Growth

As part of Cebu’s participation in the Urban Green Growth in Dynamic Asia Project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Metro Cebu Development and Coordination Board’s (MCDCB) Mega Cebu in partnership with OECD hosted a knowledge sharing workshop last Dec. 9 at the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) – Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center.

The workshop, which was comprised of two sessions, discussed Cebu’s land use and water resources management mechanisms in accommodating rapid urbanisation and economic growth.

House of Land Use and Regulatory Board, National Economic Development Authority, Cebu City Planning and Development Office, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Metro Cebu Water District, Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water, and Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office were among the government and non-government agencies who presented the management mechanisms of Cebu to the OECD members and participants of the workshop.

The discussion was used as an avenue for participants and OECD members to identify strategies and recommendations to be implemented to improve Cebu’s green competitiveness.

“This workshop is for us to conceptualize concrete, action-oriented, realistic, and feasible recommendations or ideas for Cebu,” OECD Regional Development Policy Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development project manager Tadashi Matsumoto said.

During the workshop, international participants also shared their respective city’s experiences and lessons pertaining to land use management, water supply and quality management and resilience.

The delegates from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (Thailand), Hai Phong Department of Foreign Affairs (Vietnam) and Bandung Environmental Rehabilitation Division (Indonesia) were among the International participants who shared their experiences and lessons.

“One city can’t stand alone. Cooperation and coordination with other cities is important in the solution of issues,” Iskanda (Malaysia) Regional Development Authority Strategic Communications vice president Suhaimee Md Noh@Mohamed said.

Mega Cebu, along with four other cities in Southeast Asia namely Bangkok in Thailand, Johor Bahru/Iskandar in Malaysia, Bandung in Indonesia, and Hai Phong in Vietnam, has been identified, nominated and invited by OECD as the project’s fifth case study.

The output of this study will be a report titled “Green Growth in Cebu, the Philippines”. The report, which will be published in 2016, will consider a theme affecting Cebu’s green competitiveness and recommend policies to be implemented.

The project will complement the findings of the JICA-assisted Roadmap Study for Sustainable Urban Development in Metro Cebu completed earlier this year.

For more information about Mega Cebu, visit www.megacebu.org or call 418-7234 loc. 138 and look for Mitch or Jiri. For updates, like or follow Mega Cebu on facebook.com/megacebu2050, twitter.com/mega_cebu and instagram.com/megacebu.